So: back to The Shelf.

Some days you do the best you can just to keep it all afloat. Gladdy and I settled down into a hard-working routine--me trying to finish my e-book project, and her trying to unravel the alethiometer prophecy, such as it was (next up: tea leaves).

( A truly harrowing experience, let me tell you )

Tags: dolls, his dark materials, lord of the rings, mail, sparkle motion, the secret life of dolls, twilight, van helsing
Current Mood: time for breakfast
Current Music: Whitesnake - Is This Love

When I moved to Toronto I took a computer monitor with me, and it was an CRT that I'd already had for a few years already. This was this was the monitor I used when I applied to grad school and the monitor I used when starting Dinosaur Comics.

This monitor had served me well, but the past year or so it was clearly dying. The display would get fuzzy, and then snap back. Now I use three monitors and this was on the screen I used mainly for status stuff, so it was okay. I could still read the text when I needed to!

It was getting old though, and this morning I actually thought I was watching it finally die: the screen slowly faded to black, over the course of about 30 seconds, like a movie would fade to black over a particularly dramatic coda. These were my thoughts as I watched my windows fade away. Even the little green power light on the front of the monitor faded with everything else. My old monitor faded to black I watched it die. Goodbye, faithful hardware!

BUT THEN it faded back! You guys, it faded back just as it had faded out. It was a death-bed deke, and I was totally taken in. The monitor did this cycle a few more times, but I was wise to it now. I wasn't going to be taken in again. Eventually the monitor stopped fading out entirely, and we both got back to what we were working on before.

That was this morning. Just now, it faded to black and hasn't recovered. The power light has died with the screen too, but its switch is still in the "on" position. Okay, so just now I turned the power off and on again and the monitor recovered perfectly fine. MAN I GOT DEKED AGAIN.

Okay, so clearly this monitor is sick but doesn't want to die; it wants a peek at its obituary before it goes. Well here you go, monitor, I've moved this window over to you and I'm writing this on you and this is your obituary. If you do anything awesome after I post this I'll update it appropriately, but I think this is where our two paths diverge. You have been a good and faithful monitor and I will probably not forgot many of the things I saw through you.

You were a good monitor!

Tags: hey_guys_deke_means_fool

Ah, we finally have an image for the Comic-Con exclusive Tonner Edward, courtesy of the Tonner email newsletter that I subscribe to religiously:

( Read more... )

The hair is rather meek, and for a full $129 I wish it had more accessories than "a shirt,"* but it does seem to have the black eyes to indicate "hunger" (~*EXCITING VARIATION!*~), and I have to say? This is the least horrifying/most accurate product image of the character that they've put up yet. I mean, compared to my doll's prototype pictures.

* YOU'RE KILLING ME HERE, PEOPLE. IT'S THE SAME DOLL, EXCEPT THIS TIME IT'S DEPRESSED. IT HAS LESS STUFF THAN THE FIRST ONE; IT DOESN'T EVEN HAVE A JACKET. YOU CAN'T THROW IN SOME EXTRA CLOTHES? A SPARKLE VENEER? A TINY MOUNTAIN LION? COME ON.

I mention this specifically just to let y'all know not to worry about trying to get one for me (as I'd previously asked--for someone to snag one at the convention, and I would have paid them back). I'd like to get one, but I think I'm going to get my bargain hunter on and go to eBay after the convention. Besides, like I said last time, no one would have any way of knowing who else might or might not have snagged one, and I'd end up with seven Edward v2s WHO HAVE NO ACCESSORIES and no way to pay everyone back.


Also: WHOA BLACK CANARY. They really need to lay off using the Lara Croft body (literally, that is the Lara Croft body sculpt) on every single flippin' DC doll.

Tags: are you kidding me, dolls, sparkle motion, tonner, twilight

Miscellany:

I have tickets to Midnight Harry Potter! The Lovely Emily and I have done this for years now--maybe since Prisoner of Azkaban; certainly since Goblet of Fire, I can't remember. (I think GOF was the one where she nearly killed some photo-with-flash-taking kids in the row in front of us. With her knitting needles. And if she was knitting, it was probably November--rather than, say, summer--which would make it Goblet of Fire. Meeeeemorieeeeees...)

Got three tiny packages in the mail, one of them addressed to "Anna Dollerious." You are all very, very strange people, and I love you.

(What was in one of them:)



(Actually, I think Anna's package may have saved my ass, because it'll give me a better way to keep her "onstage," as it were, even though I will have to keep the contents secret for a while. There's only so many balls I can juggle at once, people.)

(Also, and I am telling you just this so you'll keep an eye out for it, next week we will have a Very Important, Long-Awaited Shelfian Event. It won't be tomorrow's entry, but rather, the installment after that one.)

More jaw-clenching. Lovely. Also, with all the drizzliness, I think it may be time to test out that full-spectrum lamp. Except that by the time I decided this, it got sunny again. Go me.

As for my hair--I'm not saying it's completely healed or anything. I mean, hair is not a living thing; you can't really "repair" it. I was thinking more in terms of the beauty equivalent of, say, fabric softener--something to help the tangles and the breakage before it got any worse. So, first thing I did was ( Read more... )

And finally: Ice Cream Deathmatch is still under way!

Tags: depression, hair, harry potter, ice cream, mail, om nom nom, the lovely emily, the secret life of dolls, van helsing
Current Mood: restless
Current Music: Garbage - Lick the Pavement

Unfortunately, The Littlest Edward did not have them.

"I can never--never--even look her--in the eye agaaaaain!" he wailed, heaving his dry, tearless sparklepire sobs into the Easter grass.

( BAD! NO BELLA! )

Tags: dolls, lord of the rings, my little pony, sparkle motion, the secret life of dolls, twilight
Current Music: Garbage - It's All Over But The Crying

To help you get excited and prepared for the Amaranth Anime Ball, we'll be announcing events, as they're finalised, here. We'll tell you what event is running, what's involved, and what you might want to prepare! Feel free to show your excitement for each event in comments. You can also ask further questions about each event here by commenting on the relative post.

Now, to start it all off, we announce:

King and Queen of Amaranth!

The King and Queen of Amaranth competition is the most anticipated and enjoyed event on the night of the ball. All attendees (with the exception of committee and competition judges) are eligible for selection as contestants, and will be monitored secretly throughout the night for qualities such as graciousness, involvement in Amaranth, etc. Full of fun, flair and fierce ambition, the contestants will be asked various questions and required to perform some tasks. The two contestants with the best combination of personality and outfit will be chosen, each crowned as either King or Queen, and receive glory and gifts from the Amaranth Anime Ball.

In 2009, after some refinement, the event returns better than ever. One of the major changes this year is that the selection criteria and judging criteria have both been revised. The exact criteria for selection and judging cannot be revealed right now, in order to avoid any unfair advantage that may result from being unduly prepared.

Another change that is more apparent is the judging panel. This year we have sought judges outside of the committee, and amongst them will be two well known cosplayers. Aly and K are based in Perth, frequently travel interstate to attend anime-related conventions, and have previously judged at the Manifest 2008 Cosplay Competition. They will be moving to Melbourne and attending Amaranth Anime Ball 2009, and we have requested their assistance as judges for the King and Queen of Amaranth competition.

We hope that you will enjoy watching and participating in the King and Queen of Amaranth 2009 competition, just as much as we enjoy planning and presenting it.

Re: Friday's Secret Life: People do this every time one of the characters refers to "Miss Cleo," so--I just want you to know that I'm not trying to hint that you have to call me that. I'm not a TV hotline psychic or the little old lady down the street or anything. Plain "Cleo" is just fine.

Also, if you feel creative in the comments or something, this is precisely what folks created slodfans for. I mean, fanfic of fanfic will probably destroy the universe, but that's what it's there for. (Newest post: Icons!)

(This afternoon: more guerilla photography, lest I get busted taking pictures of vintage toys again. "Is that--" "NO!" "--one of my forks?" "... Maybe." I did discover that the NECA action figures do have a bit more bendability than I had originally thought. I also put two characters close together in the same shot for the first time and it is TERRIFYING. Like something out of Gulliver's Travels, for real. Anyway. That'll probably go up tomorrow.)

I've rambled on too long already, so: remind me to tell you what I ended up doing to rescue my hair for the next chatty/linky post.

Meanwhile, I totally, deplorably forgot to link the big first-anniversary Made of Fail episode when it came out; there's also a poll up for you to weigh in as to whether you like the new intro better than the old one. (I'll be guesting on the next epsiode, which will be Harry Potter-themed.)

Also-also, from lightlack: "I was wondering if in one of your future linkspam posts, you might be able to post something about this story in the LA Times about a very young girl with severe schizophrenia. I don't know this family personally, but they're friends of a friend, and after I read the article I wanted to help spread the story, in case somebody out there with connections might know of some resources that could help this little girl out."

( Linkspam of major WTF )

Tags: 300, alabama is the center of the universe, alice in wonderland, books, comics, crazy, fame, feminism, harry potter, indiana jones, inglourious basterds [sic], iron man, monsters, movies, narnia, oh hell no, phantom of the opera, podcasts, sci-fi, sparkle motion, superman, the hurt locker, the last airbender, the runaways, toys, twilight, vampires, watchmen, wtf
Current Mood: hungry
Current Music: Garbage - Why Don't You Come Over

Caught the "tail" end of this little drama on the bike path today. Twilight may be a shitty book but it's a great time to watch animals!

I have read the Geist quickstart, and it pleases me. I have some guesses and responses. If anyone out there has also read the Geist quickstart, I would love to hear your responses to my thoughts:

• It looks like what we've got here is one important splat ("Threshold" - how you almost died) and one purely stylistic splat ("Archetype" - what you do with yourself).
• Every Threshold gives you your Keys, which are the domains in which your magic powers fall. It looks like the Keys your splat provides are the only Keys you can start with. I don't know if you can ever acquire more.
• You have your choice of Manifestations, which are how you channel your Keys. The Manifestation of Caul lets you channel your Keys through your body, for example, while the Manifestation of Marrionette lets you control things. Some powers let you haunt the area around you, with some benefits, which is awesome.
• All Sin Eaters can freely see ghosts (there's a roll to stop seeing them), spend magic points to make even stupid ghosts smart enough to talk to, and spend magic points to interact with ghosts. Each Geist also has a Keystone, which is a magical thingy somehow tied to the life of your ghost half.
• The final aspect of a Geist, the Geist itself, is basically the ghost from a ghost story.

Anyway, I am totally awesomed out by this game and cannot wait to own it.

That is all.

Tags: roleplaying
Current Mood: impatient

I can sympathize with Galadriel a lot these days. We're both worried about the future, and if I had a Mirror to look into, I'd be peering into it half the day, probably. But the Mirror was stubbornly refusing to give her anything more specific than "a darkened room" and vague colors; even Lyra's alethiometer was refusing to give her anything but the same symbols over and over again. But she was ever more convinced that two needle-stops at "hourglass" had to mean death.

( NO! STOP IT! NO BABBLING! THAT IS ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY! OH MY GOD! )

Tags: dolls, his dark materials, lord of the rings, sparkle motion, the secret life of dolls, twilight
Current Mood: anxious
Current Music: Aqualung - Strange And Beautiful (I'll Put A Spell On You)