The NEW installment of LOVIATHAN Part Three: Love Is The End Of The World is now online at ACT-I-VATE!

ONE WORLD ENDS. ANOTHER IS BORN. BUT LOVE AND BETRAYAL ENDURE. A TALE OF HIGH ADVENTURE SET AGAINST THE BRIGHT ABYSS OF ETERNITY!

THIS WEEK: Adventures on the high seas ... or the East River, at least ...

Catch up on the previous episode here:
http://www.activatecomix.com/20-3-3.comic

Click here to read this week's new episode here:
http://www.activatecomix.com/20-3-4.comic

Click here to read from the beginning:
http://www.activatecomix.com/20.comic

Word of the Day
treacle, n. 1 : (chiefly British) : molasses 2 : something (as a tone of voice) heavily sweet and cloying

Baby at 27 Months
...apparently picked up the remote while I was gone, pushed the buttons on it and put it to her ear... then said, "Hi, Mommy!" and proceeded to babble a while. Which was very different from her reaction when I finally did catch her on the phone on Saturday afternoon. I said, "Hi, baby!" and she said, "Mommy!" Paused. "W!"

I blinked and said, "W! W is a letter, that's right!"

"Upside down!" she added.

"Is the W upside down?" I asked, obliging.

And then she declared, "M!"

I stared at the hallway in the hotel, then said, "Yes! A W, upside down, looks like an M!" And then marveled two things: that she seemed to at last have figured out to pause and listen for a response on the phone, something I'd never observed her to do... and that she was using this astonishing new magic to... act as if I was standing right next to her, playing with her.

Some things about human nature seem to assemble themselves extremely early. Apparently, our reaction to technology is one of them. Because days later, I realize that I do the same thing with the phone, the internet, with basically every tool that makes it seem like my friends are there. I treat them like... they're there. In my heart. Even though they're not in body.

How quickly we establish this confusing dichotomy.

Current Plans
Feel better. Write con report. Write Spots if I have the energy. Update wish lists before relatives buy me anything for Christmas (brushes! More than anything!) Pay the State of Florida the Stupid Tax I accidentally incurred by misunderstanding the salestax reporting law. *grumble*

Elsewhere
• Soviet War Paintings. Grim but amazing. From James Gurney's blog (I see he's going to be GOH at... was it Anthrocon? Next year? Excellent choice).
• Cylithria Dubois, Marine Corps Novelist. She puts all your excuses for not doing something you say you want to do to shame. Absolutely amazing story.

Quote of the Week
I've learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions and not on our circumstances. — Martha Washington


Stardancer Home.

If you're looking at some of those Amazon deals, note that they're currently running a special free one-month trial offer of Amazon Prime. That'll get you free two-day shipping on all of the deals (and makes things like $2 DVD deals a lot more tempting.

Also, note that any season of The X-Files can now be had for $12.49 a pop.

(Previous posts that are still relevant: Watchmen toys, Ghostbusters for Xbox, and $3 in free MP3 credits from Monday and Reba, PS3 Wireless guitar, The Simpsons, Board games, and Criterion Collection from yesterday.

The Black Friday sale continues.

Current lightning deals include Hellboy 2 for $2 (I grabbed that one, of course), The Mummy for $3.99, and the Tale of Desperaux for $5. Deals coming up today are on albums by Carrie Underwood, The Kings of Leon, Bon Jovi, The Jackson 5, and Daughtry, as well an LCD portable TV, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, a waterproof digital camera, assorted video games, a Roomba, a foosball table, the Patrick Stewart Christmas Carol, and a lot more. Lightning deals, as always, start at a certain time, and run for a few hours or until they sell out.

Other new Black Friday deals:

The Gold Box Deal of the Day is an LG Blu-Ray DVD Player for $99.99. Yes, we're finally seeing sub-$100 name brand Blu-Ray players.

The Pinzon Contemporary Coffee Press is $21.99 (42% off), and comes in frustration-free packaging. It's also a part of the 4-for-3 promotion.

Charlie Wilson's War is $4.99 (67% off), Wedding Crashers is $5.99 (54% off), Quantum of Solace is $8.99 (70% off), and Vicky Christina Barcelona is $7.99 (60% off). Also, Caprica is $7.99 (60% off), and season 1 of 30 Rock is $12.99 (74% off).

Any of the first four seasons of The Office can be had for $12.99 or cheaper.

In books, the gorgeous hardcover Complete Calvin and Hobbes is $79.50 (47% off). The same deal applies to the wonderful Complete Far Side. The one-volume Dilbert 2.0 from the same series is on sale for $26.67 (69% off).

In video games, Guitar Hero Metallica is $29.95 (40% off) for all systems.

Welcome to the Mall of Shadesong!

Okay, here we go.

I have some immensely talented friends and readers.

There is a major shopping spree coming up for most of you.

These, to my mind, are two great tastes that taste great together.

So! Writers, artists, musicians, et cetera, please pimp yourself in the comments below! Please include a link and a blurb. (If you do commissions, that's good to mention, too.) I'll organize and repost in categories on Monday.

People shopping for $WINTERHOLIDAY - shop here! Give your money to a starving artist, not Wal-Mart.

So. Hit me!

(Click the tag for last year's mall!)

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ICanHasCheezburger/~3/JmuTiOFcYPo/

http://icanhascheezburger.com/?p=209566

http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/2495.html

Today's theme: Space

Administration
Happy birthday to cos, hnmic, and settsimaksimin!

Happy early birthday to asciikitty, auton, passionandsoul, and whitecrow0, who all advance a year over the weekend!


Medical
My asthma has been crazymaking this year. Also, legs are still saying "you are never to wear those boots again." Otherwise optimistic.

Uncle Rob Says
While walking in an unfamiliar neighborhood, I saw a huge red wooden chair on someone's front lawn. It was big enough for a 20-foot-tall giant. An equally oversized martini glass was perched on the arm of the chair. Nearby was a sign that read, "I have flying monkeys at my command, and I'm not afraid to use them." I assumed this scene was the handiwork of an adorable crazy person who's an admirer of "The Wizard of Oz" mythology. I also flashed on how I could totally see you sitting in that chair. Metaphorically speaking, you too have flying monkeys at your command. I just hope you use them to accomplish good deeds, not evil ones.

Heh. Yes.

I do, you know. In a manner of speaking.

Not a horoscope, but also from Uncle Rob: Have you ever been loved? I bet you have been loved so much and so deeply that you have become jaded about the enormity of the grace it confers. So let me remind you: To be loved is a privilege and prize equivalent to being born. If you're smart, you pause regularly to bask in the astonishing knowledge that there are many people out there who care for you and want you to thrive and hold you in their thoughts with fondness.

Saving SANE
Thanks for the reposts and retweets yesterday! I'm not sure when we'll know - I'll let you know as soon as I know. Can't hurt to keep spreading the word.

EDIT: Shit. From the Facebook group:

Update: Last night the Governor vetoed the 400k supplemental that had been appropriated by the legislature.
Next Step: We will ask for an over ride to this veto. Stay tuned for information on how you can help.

Keep calling, guys.

Google Wave
I have some more invites. Anyone still need one? Invites all gone; everyone through jasra who asked got one.

Auctions
Women, Action, and the Media is having a really fantastic auction.

The Interfictions 2 auction is still going strong - and four pieces based on "Valentines" go up this/next week!

Meyers-Briggs
I tend to fluctuate around xNFx; I used to be INFP, and I drifted. Last few tims I've taken the test, though, I've been pretty solidly ENFJ.

( Which is this. )

New s00j song!



Link Soup
* Puzzle acorns.
* Microvolunteering!
* Traci Lords as Dejah Thoris? DO NOT WANT.
* Black Friday deals. (Personally, I'm not going anywhere near a mall on Friday.)
* Star Wars status updates.
* I'm glad we have a president who's keeping his eye on the robots.

Daily Science
Michio Kaku's Physics of the Impossible will be a TV show! Great book. :)

It's-Kinda-Friday Memeage
Wearing: Lichtenstein-esque comics pajamas.
Reading: Celiac Disease: A Hidden Epidemic by Peter Green; Stories from the Plague Years by mikemarano.
Writing: I have two short nonfiction pieces and one short fiction piece I need to jump on.
Knitting: Finished the second Noro shawl Monday; won't get around to blocking it til next week. Back to Travelling Woman! And my train knitting - a simple diagonally-ribbed scarf in baby alpaca for Elayna.
Planning:
Today I find out about the job. Which is why I've been up for hours. *twitch* But I shall keep myself occupied cleaning, baking pies (found gluten-free crusts!), and doing general Thanksgiving prep. Elayna has a half-day, and Adam basically does as well, so he'll take her to get her bloodwork while I hold down the fort - slipjig and rafaela are due ~3, and hopefully slipjig will be amenable to running me to the airport to fetch gwynraven!
Tomorrow: Thanksgiving! *throws confetti* Planning for food to hit the table ~6, but people can start coming over ~2. Cooking's more fun when your friends are there, after all. :)
Friday: Recovery! And a leftovers party at wildelven's old place.
Saturday's another party; Sunday might be a lazing-about-the-house day. We may well need one!

You?

Happy Horroridays with Fright Night on Fri Dec 4th. Last FN of 2009

Next Fright Night is Friday Dec 4th,

Buy your tickets in advance @ the Fright Night website.



This is the last Fright Night of 2009. Will be be back in 2010?
Come celebrate a scary little holiday with us early at Fright Night.

Only $13 (What a Bargain!)
Located at the Warner Grand Theater
478 West 6th Street in San Pedro, CA
Box Office Opens @ 7:30pm Doors open @ 7:30pm Show Starts @ 8:30pm
All Ages, Spirits and Boos for Boils and Ghouls 21+ w/ID
It will scare the YELL out of you!
http://www.frightnightla.com/

( trailers and info under the cut )

I met these folks at HeroCon, real nice peeps:



About Real World Hero

We are gamers, just like yourselves. It’s our pastime, our hobby. Heck, with little ones running around, some days it’s the extent of our social life. We love the play, we love the grind (ok, maybe not so much), we love being able to hurl fireballs at digital demons at the end of a particularly hard day.

A few years back, we created a new super-group in City of Heroes along with several extended family members and other players we’ve collected through the years of playing the game. It began as a joke. In one of the game updates, Issue 9: Breakthrough, the Wentworth’s Consignment House was added to various zones hero-side. We came up with the idea to play the “owners” of Wentworth’s and so the Wentworth’s Country Club was born. While running around and role-playing well heeled marketers was fun, we found great satisfaction in giving new players and characters a leg up with random gifts of influence, essentially being charitable in game.

As players, we cooperate to run Task Forces, to take down zombies and Rikti Invaders, and to occasionally gather for a costume contest or two. When we leave the game, our super powers don’t come with us…but that doesn’t mean we’re powerless. We are a very large group of people. We -can- step up and become Real World Heroes.

With heroic regard,

Mr. and Mrs. Wentworth
(@Mr. Wentworth and @Sultry Siren)

http://bannable-offenses.blogspot.com/2009/11/train-derailed.html

I was just getting ready to write something when I heard screaming and crying coming from my daughter's room.

I don't mean like regular whimpering or anything. This was screaming and crying like she was getting beaten.

No, Susan was not beating her.

As a father, it is one of my many duties to run headlong toward sounds of danger and distress from my child. Basically, whenever my child screams in mortal terror, I am REQUIRED to run directly toward that sound.

Side note: What the F&%@, Biology? Why the hell am I programmed to go defend my kid?

This is survival of the fittest around here. If she happens to be getting murdered or eaten by a pack of hungry dogs or something, that's just the beautiful circle of life. Who am I to interfere?

Let the kid die.

Anyway, I run full speed to her room expecting the worst. Blood, vomit, severed limbs, whatever. The way she's screaming and crying, it could be anything.

I quote:

Daughter>> I didn't get to finish Handy Manny.

Let me break this down for you: she woke up in the middle of the night and freaked out because she didn't get to finish watching a show like 4 hours ago?

What the hell?

You know, three minutes after we shut off the TV, that makes sense. Feel free to file a complaint.

Daughter>> Daddy... What's that big dragon thing?

No. No. I would not feed my daughter to Jormy.

I'm fairly certain I wouldn't do that.

Still, after four hours, she's kind of lost her right to argue the point. You know, since it is late and she is in bed.

Also, the show has been over for three and a half hours.

And I had to spend ten minutes calming her down and telling her we'd watch it tomorrow. Ten minutes of trying to make her feel better about the thing that took four hours to register.

Man, kids are F&%@ed up.

I give you stats for the dirigible/pony-express story with zombies, the Goodnight-Loving trail, and a 19-year-old Union veteran who’s stuck with a mechanical foot.

Project: “Reluctance”
New Words Written: 2885 (uh oh)
Present Total Word Count: 7525 words
Goal: 5000 words by November 29





Details: Aw, crap. Way too long. Will shelve it for now, and try to fix it next week.
[:: headdesk ::]

[Crossposted to/from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so either here or there.]

Check out these super fantastic and just teh awesomest toe socks evah!

Thanks schnookiemuffin, you rock hard core!!


( New Toe Socks! )

"Everything is legitimate within the bounds of Thanksgiving"

Thanks to Joel Hodgson for the phrase this week.

For the duration of this week, please interject this phrase into conversation as much as possible.

Please make a note of it.

The other four Star Wars Facebook statuses are pretty damn good, too.

I wrote a little over 2000 words today in amongst doing a little promotional work for The Joker Blogs (he has over 11,000 subscribers on You Tube now. That rocks like nobody's business) and running about a 3-hour errand. I hadn't been out in days, I'd been so sick. Today I got back in the groove of things. The words flowed pretty easily. What I was writing was another Tarmian memory embedded in Orphaeus' psyche. This material is almost 25 years old and never written down. It's always been in my head, the basis of the origin of the Vampire curse carried by the Original Ten Tarmi. The memory he relates has to do with the five centers of wisdom established on Earth by the Tarmi. And it also holds a tiny bit of prophecy that will be important in the third book, The Augury of Gideon. I'm really looking forward to writing Augury. Once I finish The Blood Crown, I'll probably just go right into Augury of Gideon. I want to delve into more of the Vampire prophecies and I miss Faust/Kallum. I'm looking forward to resurrecting him and having him interact with Cadmus, carrying the full memory of the atrocities Cadmus visited upon his person. The dynamics I feel when I think about those two gets me all tingly.

If I don't end up with another rare tropical disease, I think I'm going to win NaNoWriMo. I won't have The Blood Crown finished, but I'll have it about three-quarters of the way, so it won't take long to bring it to a satisfactory conclusion. I already have that in my mind. The only thing I don't know about is what Cadmus and Orphaeus face when they finally enter the catacombs under the Vatican. I guess they'll tell me when they get there. Cadmus has certainly been wordy of late, so I'm sure he'll disclose what he needs to when he feels like it. Ha ha!