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Monday, December 1st, 2008
morgandawn
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10:18a
Money: And There Will Be Flying Cars And Robots - All Bought On Credit
From a 1968 article:
"As a result of the proliferation of credit cards, there has been widespread speculation about the possibilities of a checkless, cashless society in the future......The credit card companies derive their revenue from discounts from establishments which accept the cards in lieu of cash and from membership fees. Some credit card practices have come in for criticism recently, mainly because of the mailing of unsolicited cards by banks and some others in the revolving credit field."
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morgandawn
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8:52a
Abby: 1975-2008
Memory post for ![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) tv_elf has been set up here. It includes two articles - one written by her mother and one by Abby in 2005 when Abby reached her 30th birthday.
Please share your thoughts and memories with her family.
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morgandawn
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8:33a
Money: Because The Banks Are Just Not Learning
Even under the current economic stresses, banks are still sending out exorbitant credit card offers. This could have disastrous results for both consumers and banks. In short, expect them back at the federal water trough by spring demanding more money because they're too big to fail.
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morgandawn
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8:29a
Charity Repost: Hunger
For those who may have missed it, I made my second holiday charity post here. The topic - hunger.
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amorettea
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9:22a
Projects DONE
Every year, I assemble some history columns I write and other stuff into a book (well, its comb bound, like an old-fashioned print 'zine) to sell to raise money for historic preservation. Because of the election, I had fewer columns in the local newspaper this year so had to do some serious fluffing to get a lousy 50 pages. I got it all laid out and DONE last night. It is off to be printed this morning.
Combination of tension and hunching over the keyboard, I have a terrible stiff neck and shoulders. I could use a good massage but I have to chair a zoning commission meeting at 11 this morning, followed at noon by a presentation to a local service club on flooding.
Maybe I'll nap instead of doing the ironing this afternoon. I'm sure the cats would prefer that.
current mood:  sore
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musesfool
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11:08a
it wasn't you who held me down
I can't believe it's December already. Wasn't it just February? What the hell happened to this year? I guess that means it's time for the monthly wrap-up.
Top 5 songs - November 2008
5. Handle Bars - the Flobots
4. Dilaudid - the Mountain Goats
3. Devil's Playground - Gram Rabbit
2. Deep Red Bells - Neko Case
1. It's a Shame About Ray - Lemonheads
~*~
Monthly writing round-up – November 2008
Riddle Me This
Supernatural; Dean and Sam; pg; 1,020 words
Sam and Dean meet a sphinx. Hijinks ensue.
I've never been too good with names (but I remember faces)
Supernatural; Sam and Dean; pg; spoilers through 4.08; 8,330 words
Dean's glad that Sam is focusing on the case and not what Dean can't or won't say about what he remembers.
Angel Radio
Supernatural; Dean/Anna; spoilers through the promo for 4.10; adult; 2,545 words
"The world could end tomorrow."
Tale as Old as Time
Supernatural; Dean; g; no spoilers; 1,880 words
"You're the one who's so great with kids, or so you keep telling me."
A Moveable Feast
Supernatural; Mary, John, Dean, Sam; g; 2,675 words
Five Winchester Thanksgivings
Opposition Research
Supernatural; Dean/Bela; adult; 1,080 words
"You know, when this is over, we should really have some angry sex."
Considering all my bitching about not being able to write, it was a pretty good month. I guess I am just frustrated with a number of my wsip, and also, I keep forgetting to forward myself the catchallathon document so I can work on that. I am pretty happy with these stories, though, especially "I've never been too good with names," which turned out almost exactly like I wanted it to, even though I didn't realize that while I was writing. Thanks again to everyone who's commented. I really appreciate it, more than I can say.
~*~
I also updated unfitforsociety this morning with 22 recs for November 2008:
* 13 Supernatural
* 3 Dark Angel
* 2 Iron Man
* 2 Crossovers
* 1 each Friday Night Lights and Anne of Green Gables
~*~
the "Be Pete Wentz" meme:
1. Put your music player on shuffle
2. The first lines of twenty songs = a poem; the first line of the twenty-first song is the title
( breathe it in and breathe it out )
Huh. That's not half bad. I didn't write down the songs, but I think most of them are obvious. I suppose if I were more ambitious, I'd have uploaded each of them, 'cause it's not a bad mix, either.
It's only Monday. I do not know how I am going to survive this week. Wah.
~*~
current mood:  tired
current music: Already Gone - the Eagles
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bethbethbeth
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9:54a
Hi, folks. Many of you will have read back in October (on Making Light and other blogs) about Scraps (Soren) DeSelby (aka, baldanders), a freelance copyeditor who suffered a hemorrhagic stroke.
The most recent updates say that he's progressing in his convalescence (starting to walk again, etc.), but as he had no health insurance, money is a problem - and will likely continue to be for the foreseeable future.
I only know him by reputation, but many of his friends (and friends of friends) have been involved with fund-raising efforts to help defray the costs of medical treatment.
One of my own friends - sykii - is selling prints of her [quite wonderful] photos for the first time as part of this fund-raising effort. If you get a moment, please visit her journal (here), and see if you might be able to help out with this worthy cause.
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amalthia
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2:33a
Reading Twilight
It's actually rather good. :) I'm only about halfway through but so far I'm enjoying the book a lot more than the movie which actually makes since for me since I love reading more than just about anything else.
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(comment on this) Sunday, November 30th, 2008
morgandawn
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11:08p
Wait! Come Back. This Is Important
xlorp insisted that I post this comic in my journal.
He says, this is the same conversation we have on every one of our morning walks - right after his rant on the Glass-Steagal act.
http://xkcd.com/511/
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musesfool
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11:26p
get yourself in position
Oh my god, you guys, it is SO FUCKING HOT in my apartment right now. I am sitting here in my underwear with the window open, but the heat is still banging in the pipes. If I disappear, it's probably because I've been broiled to death. *fans self*
*
I was very happy to see the Giants did not, in fact, need Plaxico Burress to win. Let's hope that keeps up. I still am all WTF? about the whole thing. He literally shot himself in the foot leg. *shakes head* The depths of dumbness required for that are best not plumbed.
*
This week, Katee Sackhoff is on Law & Order. I may actually watch in first run for that. They're actually advertising her like she's a big star or something. I am a little confused.
I've mentioned the Chuck casting spoiler, right? ( casting spoiler ) Now if they would just get Lena Olin to show up as Chuck and Ellie's mom. That would be so BEYOND AWESOME.
*
You guys, I am having trouble writing. I am having plotting issues again. I was rereading some of resonant8's posts on plot, and other stuff about writing I've got in my memories, and I just...I find it really difficult to come up with an external plot that is complicated enough to be interesting, but not needlessly complicated, and something that doesn't rely on Sam and Dean being idiots to work. And obviously that somehow underlines or illustrates something going on with Sam and Dean, which is kind of the whole point, anyway. The plot is just a macguffin, but I'd like it to be one that keeps people reading until the emoporn hits, you know? I recently read something that, well, the whole problem could have been prevented if Sam had just done ten minutes of research, and since it's Sam, not only was it annoying that he didn't do the research if I thought of it, but it was out of character for him to not do it, since, hi, have you met Sam, the walking encyclopedia of weird? But there would have been no story if he had. Or the writer would have had to have come up with a way around the answer research would have given him. And that is the kind of thing I am really really bad at in my own stories (though I can sometimes spot them in other people's).
But I just had a conversation with angelgazing and she made some suggestions, and while it's a lot more complicated now (possibly more complicated than I can handle, as plot and I are unmixy things), I think it's also more interesting and it's got more of a story to hang the emoporn on. It might also take me a really long time to figure out and write, but it's not like I don't have a whole list of other thigns I want to write, too.
In my frustration with that last night, I ended up banging out (no pun intended) some snarky up-against-a-wall Dean/Bela smut:
Opposition Research
Supernatural; Dean/Bela; adult; 1,080 words
"You know, when this is over, we should really have some angry sex."
Because there's no other way Bela got the hand of glory out of his jacket pocket. And I am still bitter we never got any Dean/Bela angry sex in canon.
*
Seriously, I think I'm melting.
*
current mood:  hot
current music: Bears v. Vikings on tv
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morgandawn
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5:58p
A River Is Not Just A Metaphor - It Is Also Cold And Wet
xlorp and I were talking today about the hard events in life. Events that smash into your life and leave you bruised and bleeding. And one thing that became clear to us is that some hard events really are like train crashes. You have no warning, cannot even imagine how it could happen to you and then BAM it's done, and over.
Except it isn't done and over. You have to live with it. To say hard events change your life is like saying earthquakes can reshape the course of rivers. They can create a permanent change, a change so huge and unforgiving that you feel helpless and furious and terrified. But no matter what you say, do or feel, that river has moved and it is not going anywhere.
Which got me to thinking of rivers and all the metaphors we use for life and hope and faith. Because when I look at the hard events in life, I don't sit there wondering "why me?" (I may sit there yelling "you mother-effing universe, you couldn't find some *other* place to spread your misery, are you getting lazy or are you just plain stupid" - but that's another reaction altogether). I don't think there is a cosmic force or God planning our fate, picking and choosing who lives and dies, who celebrates or suffers, or any form of karmic payback plan. It would be actually nice if there was such a plan - if we knew with any certainty that our good deeds would be rewarded, I suspect we'd spend more time being excellent to one another and less time harming one another. Or at least we'd spend more time looking over our shoulders for that cosmic payback that is coming up close behind.
Nor do I believe that God or the universe measures or doles out the joys and pain (the old "God never gives you more than you can handle" adage - oh boy, do not let me start examining that one in the face of the evil we see and hear every day). Again, it would be kind to think that there was someone or something sitting at the spigot and keeping an eye on our daily allotment of joy and hell.
What I do believe is this: even if there isn't anyone minding the spigot or mapping out our lives, there *is* someone who can help us deal with whatever pours out of the spigot, washes down to the river and flows into our house. For some it is God, for others it is the people around them, and for a few it is a hot fudge sundae with pecans and whipped cream. But there will always be someone out there to help. You may need to open the door to find them, but they will be there waiting for you.
Hopefully bearing huge hot fudge sundaes and singing hymns. I like to cover all the bases. Just in case.
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morgandawn
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2:28p
Mosaic Meme
The Rules:
1. Answer each of the questions below using the Flickr Search engine.
2. Choose a photo from the first three pages.
3. Copy the URL of your favorite photo into this site: http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/mosaic.php
4. Save mosaic to some form of photo hosting thing and share w/world.
1. First Name
2. Favorite Food
3. Hometown
4. Favorite Color
5. Celebrity Crush
6. Favorite Drink
7. Dream Vacation
8. Favorite Dessert
9. What I Want To Be When I Grow Up
10. What I Love Most In The World
11. One Word That Describes Me
12. My LiveJournal Name
( Read more... )
of course I cheated on #10 and used a real photo. trust me, if I had found something as funny or accurate as #11 I would have used the Flickr images.
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stele3
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10:37a
Second Circle, Author's Notes
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