Until the Stars Are All Alight

Back in the day when I worked at Taco Bell, Dan Campbell loaned me a book. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. Looking back, I don't really know how he knew; we didn't talk that much and when we did, it was mostly to razz each other with jokes on the Your Mom level. (Regardless, I miss that kid.)

But anyway. Neverwhere is, quite simply, one of the finest novels I've ever read. Right after I gave him his copy back I hunted it down at the used bookstore because I couldn't not own it. Now (a year or two later? Not sure, exactly...) I've also read American Gods and its sequel, Anansi Boys, and Fragile Things, Good Omens, and Stardust are all close to the top of the books-to-read pile. (I think I would have already read them all were it not for my hangup on address labels; but my organizational compulsions could be an entry in themselves.)

Browsing on Amazon a few weeks ago, I discovered that Gaiman has a blog; happily I was led to his website and am now reading his blog (he posts more than I do!!) via RSS feed. Tonight I delved a bit deeper into the actual website, though, and stumbled across this bit in one of the essays:

What did you like to read when you were growing up?

Anything. I was a reader. My parents would frisk me before family events. Before weddings, funerals, bar mitzvahs, and what have you. Because if they didn't, then the book would be hidden inside some pocket or other and as soon as whatever it was got under way I'd be found in a corner. That was who I was...that was what I did. I was the kid with the book. Now having said that, I tended to gravitate towards anything fantastical be it SF, be it fantasy, be it horror, be it ghost stories or anything in that territory. But I was definitely the kind of kid that read anything. The great thing about being in school in England back then was that the schools were all very old. And the schools being fairly old meant that you were actually dealing with a school library that was endowed sometime in the 1920s. That was the last time they went out on a big book buying expedition. And a few things had turned up in the 30s. I'd get to read these almost forgotten authors. I'd sit up there devouring the complete works of Edgar Wallace or G.K Chesterton. In fact, I remember my first encounter with Lord of the Rings was the first two books in battered old hardcovers. The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers. It was all they had in the library, so I read them over and over again, wondering how it ended. And when I was about twelve I won the school English prize and they said, "What would you like as a present? You get a book." I said please can I have the Return of the King, so that I can find out what happens.

Does life get any better?

(Actually it does; it's pleasing to discover that one of your favorite authors goes about writing and thinks about it the same ways you do. It's encouraging.)

...I'm going to reread Neverwhere. :D

ETA: Forgot to mention that I just discovered one of my online acquaintances is a fellow fan; the first I've come across. You know who you are and comments are <3. ;D

  Kristy© says:
hehe
  Kristy© says:
http://www.nasa.gov/  (out loud she says click the third link down)
  Sarah says:
Believe it or not, Blair tests his own new space suit. Of course, his data is sketchy.
  Kristy© says:
yeah
  Sarah says:
Contact NASA EDGE

      Your question could make the show, securing your mega-geek status for years!
  Sarah says:
      (animated extreme lolling emoticon)
  Kristy© says:
SWEET
  Sarah says:
hooray for government agencies that don't take themselves too seriously!
  Kristy© says:
YES
  Sarah says:
not that I'm complaining, but it doesn't feel like it should be Friday yet
  Kristy© says:
yeah i know
  Sarah says:
feels like a Wednesday
  Sarah says:
which is odd because we had salsa
  Kristy© says:
yeah it kinda does
  Kristy© says:
you ever wonder if there is some one fucking with the time?
  Sarah says:
dude
  Sarah says:
I'm the girl that wonders how many times she's been transported to another world, saved said world, and been transported back to the exact time and place she left from with a wiped memory
  Kristy© says:
lol
  Kristy© says:
nice
  Sarah says:
^_^
  Kristy© says:
my sister and i used to think about what we would do if we got time warped from the very spot we were on
  Sarah says:
yeah?
  Kristy© says:
yeah
  Kristy© says:
we came to the conclusion, we don't carry enough stuff with us
  Sarah says:
hahahaha
  Sarah says:
you need towels
  Kristy© says:
YES
  Sarah says:
you got that? OMG, you rock so hardcore
  Kristy© says:
well duh dude, who doesn't know about the one thing you need to hitch hike across the galaxy?



(copied-and-pasted to me)

...Mat says:
So what are your plans this weekend?
  Kristy© says:
thinking about getting drunk
 ...Mat says:
That's a good plan.
  Kristy© says:
REALLY drunk
then let my boyfriend take advantage of me

~*~

Mat says:
Missy is staying home and studying for a test this weekend, so I've decided to help her out by keeping a game on the tv so she can focus.
  Kristy© says:
lol
you are so nice
 ...Mat says:
I know, right?
  Kristy© says:
that's very considerate of you
Mat says:
I'm going out of my way, and all.

~*~

Kristy© says:
i'm tired
  Kristy© says:
i want a nap
  Kristy© says:
okay it's 4:30 on friday can i slack a bit now?


And: Abi (girl who teaches salsa) is a huge Lord of the Rings fan. She recognized Dominic in a non-LotR userpic I was using in MSN and it started from there. We're now talking all-day LotR marathon some weekend. :D

Ignore what your timestamp may tell you when you read this, I haven't gone to bed yet, therefore it is STILL SATURDAY.

Happy Froday, everyone! It's September 22nd!



And to those of you who would call me a dork, I say this: find a fandom. You haven't lived until you do.

Posted more stuff on my dA account. I have a functioning scanner now (YAYZORS) and internet at 3 AM, so I plan on keeping that updated more. I've taken to checking it at least once every other day, lol. I've even made a deviant ID. ^_^

Written last night:

Shelly called and woke me up this morning, during my snooze-alarm period of the day. I really don't remember anything we talked about, just that Josh ended up meeting her for lunch so she had to get off the phone.

I ended up falling back asleep until about three, when Jacqui called me and asked what was going on today, if I'd managed to get a hold of Duncan or if I was free or what. I told her that if she wanted to come over to give me thirty or so minutes to straighten my hair (which I'd slept on wet) and that I didn't have plans. Got up and out of bed. I put my contacts in--BOTH OF THEM ON THE FIRST TRY OMFG, I did it on a whim but I guess it paid to put them in in the opposite order--and then called her back and told her if she didn't mind watching me straighten my hair she could go ahead and come over. She did so, bearing gifts--an "I Heart Dorks" bumper sticker that I'm debating about removing "Chicks with Attitude" to put on Laurien, and a book about LotR and Tolkien that I actually didn't have: "Tolkien: A Look Behind LotR" by Lin Carter, published by Ballantine in the 60's. ^_^ YAY. (The back cover calls it a "survey of Tolkieniana." XD Also, apparently, old-school fans call it LOTR, to rhyme with boater. Hee. I've always pronounced the letters, except when referring to "LotR-ry stuff" with Nico, lol.)

We discussed the varying benefits of different types of straighteners (not that she bothers with hers all that often) and other random stuff, lol. We also discussed whether or not I should call Duncan and see if he was free, since I had made no attempt to call him since Monday. She told me to do it. I did. Got his voicemail, left a message, then the two of us decided to go to the library so that I could post my chapter (which I didn't). As I was running around upstairs getting shoes and double-checking my makeup, I looked at my phone and found a missed call--Duncan. So I called him back and finally got a hold of him. ^_^ "I tried to call you--" "Yeah, I tried to call you back right after you called me--" I asked if he was free tonight, and he said no, he had plans with Robert (his best friend) that he'd made, like, a week ago, and wouldn't be available. And then I asked, "Well, are you free now?"

"Well, I'm running errands, but I will be free soon--what did you have in mind?"

"I don't know, dinner?"

"Okay, let me call you back in about 45 minutes."

So Jacqui and I went to the library, where I realized that I'd left the disk with my chapter on it at home. >_< Checked up on my email and such, though. Printed a picture of Esme, which is now hanging on my fridge. ^_^ (The "OMG she's smiling!" pic, Kat. Lol.)

It was more like an hour before he called me, and even then he was calling to let me know it would be a little while longer. Nico called and when he found out Jacqui was there told her to call him when I ditched her, lol. (Jacqui, unlike Nico, totally understands the reasons and admits that if she had a guy she wanted to see would probably ditch me just as easily--and I, in turn, would totally understand if she did.) Jacqui left and Duncan showed up about 7:30. We talked for a few minutes and then headed for El Charro's for dinner and conversation. We took Laurien, and I have to admit I like the fact that Duncan isn't all "I'mI'll drive," because I like to drive, too. ^_^ He asked which car we should take, and I said I didn't care, and he said, "Well, you just got yours back, so we'll take yours." (I also mentioned that I'd washed her the night before and he said he noticed, lol. I'm not sure if that means he's uber-observant or if poor Laurien was just that filthy--I hadn't washed her since before I moved out, lol. I figured after a week in the shop I owed her that much.)

We decided to pay separately since we both seemed to be able to afford our own meal but not both (the waiter didn't bother to make two separate tallys, so we ended up halving it, but whatever--Duncan got the tip). and Duncan said, "I can't afford it right now, with no job, but once I can afford it I will be more than happy to take you out. And hopefully that'll be in the not-too-distant future."

*melt*

We talked a lot about really dorktastic stuff--zombies and grammar (always) and even D&D (um, yeah, he's played)--and I thought to myself that if anyone was listening that they would think that we're even bigger geeks than we really are, lol. (But I'm totally okay with that.)

Turns out he never got the text I sent him Friday night--or at any rate, his phone never alerted him. It was on his phone but he'd had no idea it was there. So that makes me feel better, because that's one occasion where it's not that he failed to get back in touch with me. I still think our phones hate each other, because when I do actually get through to him and speak directly to him (not his voicemail), he never fails to get back with me. (He may call late, but he never completely FAILS, lol.)

After dinner, though, we pretty much had to come back to my place so he could go meet up with Robert--I think he was half-an-hour late as it was. (He actually likes me enough to hang with me and postpone his best friend. WOW.)

Someone was parked in my spot again but it was early enough that I could go get the landlady and have the owner come move it. ^_^ YES.

So then I got another hug (that almost makes it not suck when he leaves) and we chatted for a few more minutes, and I asked, "Well, when are you going to be free again?" He said all day tomorrow, once he got up, and I told him I had to work, and I said, "And it'll probably be too late when I get off work, because I know you were trying to sleep more normal hours--" and he cut me off and said that he'd pretty much decided to forget about that, at least until he got a job and HAD to be up certain hours, and so it wouldn't be too late. So I'm supposed to call him when I get home tomorrow night after work and we're doing what we were going to do last Thursday--watch The Holiday and drink margaritas. Mmm. (Not that I've had a wide experience of margaritas, but as far as I'm concerned Duncan makes a damn good one.)

So then I called Nico, no answer, called Jacqui's cell and they were walking down to the lake. I drove out to Nico's and walked down, met them coming back up the hill. I guess there was some couple in a truck down by the point Nico and I usually walk to, and the truck was making squeaking noises, so Nico and Jacqui decided not to stay down there. XD

So then we hung out at Nico's for a while. I tried coconut rum. I didn't hate it, but I don't really care for coconut, so it's not my favorite. Probably would be better in soda than by itself. watched Robin Williams Live on Broadway. I missed the last ten or fifteen minutes because I suddenly realized that I didn't know where my phone was. It wasn't in the house or my car, so I started to freak out. (Not so much because of the phone itself as the contacts I would have lost.) I ended up borrowing Nico's roommate's cell phone, retracing the entire walk I took while constantly calling my phone (hanging up before it hit voicemail), and finally finding it in Nico's backyard. >_< (I should have retraced my steps backwards, but then if I'd been psychic enough to know that I wouldn't have had to search in the first place, lol.) I'd had both my phone and my MP3 player in my relatively shallow pocket, and at one point I stepped into a hole and tripped, and all I can figure is that my phone fell out then. But I found it, undamaged, so all is well. (Is it sad that the thing I worried about more than anything was the fact that I don't actually know Duncan's number and probably wouldn't have been able to get in touch with him tomorrow had I not found it? Must memorize it!)

I think I'm too addicted to my phone. Had I not found it, I might have broken down into an anxiety attack. I feel naked if I leave it at home by mistake. And that's sad, because I have voicemail and all. Do I plan on breaking myself of my phone? Heck no! ^_^ (And Shelly, THAT'S why I didn't answer, lol, my phone was lying in the grass at the time.)

By then everyone else was sleepy, and I was not, so I left. Nico called me right after I got home and told me I was missing out on a game of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. I would SO suck at that game. The only movie I've ever seen Kevin Bacon in is Hollow Man, which, besides not being as good as I'd remembered when I watched it a second time, is filled with a lot of no-name actors that I haven't seen in anything BUT that movie. And I'm really not familiar with his works in general. (I tend to confuse him with Kevin Costner.) Now, Six Degrees of LotR I can play all day long, probably dance circles around most people (except Shelly for sure and probably Duncan, lol), but that's an entirely different issue. ^_^

I did a sinkload of dishes, some of which have been in the sink since the LAST time Duncan was over, lol. Bad habit, Sarah, no cookie. (It's not like they were gross or smelled funny or had anything growing on them--I tend to rinse them before leaving them there. It's just that there's no point in me leaving them so long.) And I have since been on the computer, sorting through the last few days' finds and writing this and such. And now it is bedtime. (Some people, particularly those with farm animals that need milking, are getting up around this time, lol.)

Mom is supposed to take me to lunch, then I have to work, and then I see Duncan. *nance*

OH YEAH. Dad's car has been in the shop for a while, and they finally told him it would be about $1200 to fix, so he told me that he and Mom had decided to get a new car. No shock, really, but when he said "new car" I figured he meant newer. Not actually new. But Mom was telling me yesterday that he called his car guy (a man who makes a business of buying cars that have only slight damage to them, fixing them, and selling them) and his car guy had this great deal--a car that had 700 miles on it, a car that must have gotten dented in the dealership lot and then sold to the auction where he picked it up, a car that had only body damage but couldn't be sold as new. It's a 2006 Ford Focus, the sporty kind, black, with a spoiler on the back and everything.

AND MY PARENTS ARE BUYING IT. THEY TOOK OUT A LOAN AND EVERYTHING AND ARE PAYING $10,000 FOR A MORE-OR-LESS BRAND-NEW CAR.

They're getting it tomorrow. They really were waiting for me to move out to do all the cool stuff. My dad bought a telescope, for pity's sake! After all the times I lamented about wanting one, what does he buy a month after I move out? *sigh* I guess it's natural, they thought they were almost done and then when they were both 40, along came me. They could be more subtle about it, though--my mom is already storing her extra clothes in my old closet!

Oh well. I still heart Laurien, and Mom told me all the reasons why it's logical that they should have a new car. (It's probably the last car Dad will ever need to buy in his life, because it'll last him--her words, not mine. Plus they can "trust it" when they take long trips.) She's right, but I'm still shocked that they actually TOOK OUT A LOAN. OMG. WTF? And, like, where does my dad get off selling the Camaro that I learned to drive in (and would have gladly bought from him once I was old enough) because he thought it was "too sporty" for someone his age and then buying THIS car???

So yeah. I'm conflicted about it. I'm not sure if I'm annoyed or not. I shouldn't be, and if I am I'm not uber-annoyed, but at the same time I'm starting to appreciate the fact that maybe I'm not the only one who gained independence when I moved out. And I'm going to bed now.

Which I shall... 


Take this and pass it along-

Two things about me:
If I were a colour I'd be- Purple, duh!
If I were an animal I'd be- Something that flies, probably a robin

Please remember to be kind and pass this along!!

From gamgeefest...

The purpose of this meme is to tell five lies and one truth about a LotR character--GF gave me Gollum (and how appropriate, given his shifty nature, to use him in a lying meme!). See if you can guess the true one!

1. I've never intentionally led someone down a wrong path.
2. I'm afraid to be alone in the dark.
3. Though you'd never know it to look at me now, I come from a rich family.
4. I've never had a memorable birthday.
5. I once tasted Elven waybread, and it was the most divine thing I've ever eaten.
6. No matter what I did, my grandmother was always proud of me.

(I think I made it a bit too easy; but then I don't have my books on me to double-check and make sure I've got the facts right on some stuff that would be trickier.)

Not tagging; but comment if you want to do it and I'll give you a character.

It seems IMDB has some stills from the Order of the Phoenix movie, which isn't going to be coming out at Christmas, but next summer. Hmm. Harry's hair is short! Gah! Neville and the twins have shot up, height-wise... And Umbridge isn't ugly enough. Her costume's great, but she's not...toady, like she was in the book. Time will tell if her voice is annoying enough, lol.

Anyway. When that celebrity-lookalike thing was going around, Dominic Monaghan showed up on Nico's, and unfortunately the site didn't choose the greatest pic of Dom, which caused Nico to comment that he looked like a squirrel.

So, of course, I feel the need to set the record straight. Dominic Monaghan does NOT look like a squirrel...at least not all the time. And I have pictures to prove it! (And for the Lost/LotR fans reading this, they're all click-for-fullsize, so feel free to snag. ^_-)

    

   

(I think said Lost/LotR fans will recognize this for what it really is...an excuse to share the Dommy lovin'...)