I have given into pressure and created a Facebook Fan Page again.
Here’s the linky badgy thing. I hope it works. *hides eyes behind hand and pushes the button*
Dina James, Chronicler of the Paranormal
Promote Your Page Too
*peeks* Did it work?
I have given into pressure and created a Facebook Fan Page again.
Here’s the linky badgy thing. I hope it works. *hides eyes behind hand and pushes the button*
Dina James, Chronicler of the Paranormal
Promote Your Page Too
*peeks* Did it work?
I’ll post something just so people don’t think I’m dead or anything. I’m not. Really. I’m just…well….
It’s a combination between “apathy” and “busy”. Meaning, I have stuff to do, but I really can’t be bothered to do it.
I think they call that “lazy”.
But I’m not that, because I’m being productive. I’ve been writing like a fiend (though I’ve taken the week off to get things around the house done). I have lots going on this month on the personal front, so I’m busy there too.
It’s not that I’m not around, or not doing anything. I just don’t have a whole lot going on that’s blog-worthy. No Things of Awesome to share with you all lately. I haven’t done a vlog in months. I do have notes for one. It’s just finding the time, etc. That and I’m vain, and need my hair done. I’ll call for an appointment tomorrow. My red has faded, I have several inches of grow-out and there are colors other than what I want showing, so something’s got to be done.
I’ll be buying my ticket for Dragon*Con later this week, so yay for that.
That’s about all I have for you all at the moment. If I’m anywhere at the moment, it’s on Twitter.
Cheers,
DJ
P.S. Thanks for the fan mail, those who’ve written and added the blog to their feeds! You’re awesome, really!
Alliteration, FTW!
Anyway, yes, it’s New Year’s Eve, and I will not bore you with another post on your f!list about all that this year has encompassed for me.
I do not have extravagant plans for the evening (I had made reservations at a local restaurant I like, but I canceled them yesterday as the weather is just horrific here on the Coast and I honestly just don’t feel like going out in it), nor do I have profound end-of-year reflections to share with you all.
There were Things That Happened, Things That Didn’t Happen, Stuff Went On and I Did Things and Went Places.
That about sums it up.
How exciting. Maybe I’ll write something next week about Stuff I Did In 2009 and Stuff I’m Looking Forward To For 2010 and Goals I Have For The Year That Aren’t Resolutions Because Those Get Broken And Goals Are Better.
As for tonight, I’m going to not change into nice clothes or go out. I’m going to sit around in my pajamas, work on my next scene of this latest revision of my WIP that’s being strangely uncooperative, finish setting up my refurbished laptop (still a few things to reinstall – like my printer), eat this phenomenal chicken pot pie I have baking in the oven (from Costco of all places – if your local Costco makes a chicken pot pie (in the deli section), go and get one and bake it for your eating pleasure. SO FREAKING GOOD!), and maybe watch a movie or take a nap.
Or maybe I’ll just eat and go to bed and when I wake up, it will be 2010. That sounds so futuristic! So…“The Year We Make Contact”.
Whatever I’m going to do, it will be to ignore the horrible storm going on outside.
Cheers,
DJ
The person you have reached is experiencing technical difficulties. If you feel you have reached this message in error
GUESS WHAT? YOU HAVEN’T!
/frustration
Anyway, yeah. My laptop is fried. It’s a long story, but the short of it is that it has to go in for repair, and that will take anywhere from two weeks to a month to get back. Hopefully – HOPEFULLY – it will be done and sent back in a week or so, but this being the holiday season, “7 business days after we receive it” may as well translate to “don’t expect it anytime soon”.
But there’s always hope, right?
Right?
I mean, the laptop is less than a year old and still under warranty, so I’m not going to have to take out another mortgage or anything to pay for it, or buy a new one (that I know of…yet). I don’t even have to pay shipping, so that’s good. This came at a seriously unfortunate time, but it’s not the end of the world, no matter what it feels like (and it does feel awful – everything is on that laptop, but the really important things are saved and available, namely my manuscripts! Weekly external hard drive backups FTW!).
So it’s not the end of the world. It’s just the (hopefully very temporary) end of the lifestyle to which I’d become accustomed. Yeah, I’m bummed bigtime – I has a BIG sad 🙁 – but I’ll bounce back soon enough.
I’m trying to look on the bright side of this crisis/fiasco/craptasticness (and believe me, I did NOT need this today on top of a few other…issues I’m dealing with that I won’t detail here.*sings* “Always look on the briiiiiiiiiiiiiight side of life!”) – lappy is under warranty, I don’t have to shell out big bucks, it will come back nice and shiny and fixed, it’s good that it’s in because there’s obviously a big problem that needs serious attention, I have the most important things backed up or otherwise available, I have access to other computers, etc. – but anyone who knows me knows I’m a pragmatist, and I adapt well and make the best out of a situation and make do with the tools I have.
If that means mustard ends up on the ceiling, well, that’s your fault for letting me in the kitchen, isn’t it? It’s not like you weren’t warned! It doesn’t mean I’m unaffected by the situation or that I won’t complain about how much it sucks before I get on with it.
Sometimes “getting on with it” isn’t ideal, but it’s what you’ve got, so stop whining already and go. I believe the phrase is “suck it up and move on”. I’ve had my frustration vents and moved through the stages of grief already. This note is just to let you all know, really, that I’ll be scarce the next however long, as I’ll be borrowing computers and connections to get what needs doing done.
So being a pragmatist helps. As do cupcakes and a borrowed laptop.
Cheers,
DJ
If you follow this blog on the semi-regular basis that I update it, you’ll know that Dina In The Kitchen is generally a bad idea. I’ve gotten mustard on the ceiling while making fried chicken.
Don’t ask. Just…don’t. Don’t even think about it. You’ll hurt your brain. Just take my word for it. This is a story that is often told by my mother whenever I go into the kitchen to do something as simple as put the kettle on for tea.
It’s just a bad idea.
Now, having said that, this post will contain recipes. (Recipes involving meat, for those who don’t want to read about such things – you’ve been warned.)
WARNING and DISCLAIMER:
THIS IS A RANT. Turn back now/abandon hope all ye who enter here, etc. The content below contains language, opinion, general stuff that’s probably going to piss people off and hurt some feelings. Do not come whining to me if you get yours wounded, because YOU WERE WARNED.
Still with me. All right.
I’m so recycling this post from the previous one about #dietgame.
Welcome to your doom.
Just kidding.
If you’re here, you probably want to know about #dietgame on Twitter. Well, you’ve come to the right place.
Background: A few months ago, on September 3, my Wii Fit made bad jokes about how much time had passed since my last workout and made the Noise of Disappointment when it did my body test that morning. So, of course, I wrote it a nasty tweet in return, announcing my weight loss goals in an effort to ensure some kind of accountability besides that of the Evil Wii Fit. (That thing is EVIL, I tell you, and not in the good way!)
Long story short, #dietgame has been invented. It’s like #wordathon for weight loss.
In that regard, here are the “rules”.
1) You must have a weight loss goal.
2) You must start as soon as possible/as soon as you find out about this.
3) The end date for this edition of #dietgame is March 4, 2010. 90 days from today (or 3 months if that’s how you want to think of it).
4) You must tweet your progress at least once a week (Thursday is good, as it’s the day we’re going to end on March 4). Use the hashtag #dietgame so that the rest of us playing can kick your – um…”offer encouragement”.
Other things:
Your weight loss goal does not have to be pounds. It can be inches, body fat percentage, whatever. This is a motivational/accountability exercise/encouragement/ass-kicking group, “sponsored” by yours truly and @Zombie_Joe.
This is a FRIENDLY competition, but those of you who play #wordathon know I have an alter ego in the form of #gunnyjames. This is my R. Lee Ermey-style motivation-by-degradation, and you will get screamed at and told to get your lazy ass on the treadmill if #gunnyjames is in-or-pro-voked.
Like #wordathon, there is no “winner” or “prize”. This is about reaching a goal, and that goal can be in pounds lost, percentage lost and percentage of goal reached. Suppose we reach March 4 and the best among those playing #dietgame have only reached 80% of their goal? Well, that person “wins”.
Now, this is not a “diet” or “weight loss plan”. You do your own thing. Whatever works for you/however you want to lose weight. There are no suggestions, we’re not all joining Weight Watchers or going on the South Beach Diet or Atkins or whatever. This, like the way we #wordathon players write, is highly individual. You do whatever works for you. Some of us do a daily thing, some of us push hard a couple days a week, some of us wait until the last minute, whatever. However you want to do it. Up to you. This is a motivational thing/friendly competition, NOT an advice column. Play at your own risk, etc. etc., no one assumes any liability for your weight loss or lack thereof, blah blah blah, etc. etc.
So, you in?
Good. Now put down that donut and go clean out your pantry before I kick your ass.
-DJ
Like I need to add anything else to the upcoming busy month, but hey, I’m apparently masochistic at the moment.
Okay, yes…I’m one of those people who has started listening to Christmas music already. I know, I know. But I really love the holidays. Halloween used to be my favorite until I came out of my Goth closet and could dress how I wanted to every day of the year and not care about being seen as a freak (for the record, I was 25), but now Christmas is my favorite.
Thanksgiving, however, was not overlooked. I mean, a foodie like me ignore a holiday that’s all about FOOD? PIE? LOTS AND LOTS OF PIE?! (Not to mention leftover pie!!) And turkey and mashed potatoes and corn and stuffing…. At the moment, I never want to eat again, though I know I’ll make a plate of leftovers in a few hours.
Anyway, what was I writing about? I mean, before my stomach started doing the writing? Oh, yeah! Masochism! I mean, the holiday spirit!
Okay, here’s the deal. It’s not like a contest or anything, because I don’t have the time or energy for that, but I’m making an attempt at initiative and preparedness and updating my holiday card list.
Yes, you heard right. No, I’m not too early. It’s after Thanksgiving (just)! I mean, by the time I get the list done and cards mailed, I’ll be right on time! Theoretically.
If you want to be on my holiday card list, post a comment here (don’t worry, these will be screened!) or e-mail dina [at] dinajames [dot] com with your snail mail addy, and I’ll send you a holiday card.
If you received a card from me last year, you’re still on the list, unless for some reason you annoyed me between the last time I made the list and now (or I’m just a techie prat and somehow deleted you by accident or never put you on it to begin with – which I’ve done). If you received one last year and don’t want one this year for whatever reason, let me know that, too.
If you’re feeling in the holiday spirit yourself, or are one of those people who will torture yourself with guilt and angst if you don’t return the favor, my snail mail addy is:
Dina James
P.O. Box 574
Astoria, OR 97103
USA
I keep this list for subsequent use, but will remind you all yearly to send me any updates. I realize people move about and change names and such, so let me know if your address has changed from the last time I sent you one, if that’s happened!
And just to let people know up front, the card design will once again be drawn by the very talented Becky Hitchin, NOT by me. I, personally, can’t draw anything beyond what I learned to do in my high school art classes, so before you even ask, NO, I did not draw the picture on the card you’ll receive.
I’m setting you all a deadline of December 15 to get me your address. This will (hopefully) give me time to get my act together and send them on time.
And so to work.
-DJ
It’s that time of year again.
I have never participated, but encourage others to do so. Now, before you call me a hypocrite, let me explain.
I am a commitmentophobe. Or a Sagittarian, however you want to phrase it. What? To borrow a phrase from Huck Finn, I don’t put a whole lot of stock into astrology, but it really is uncanny sometimes how “accurate” it can be.
If you look at the qualities of a Sadge, it’s pretty much dead-on about me.
Sagittarians don’t like commitment, BUT – once we do commit to something, it’s done. It’s all or nothing.
Hence my ambivalence about joining NaNoWriMo.
It’s not fear of failure or anything like that. I know I can do it.
It’s just that I know myself too well. I have to want to do it, and I’m not sure I want to. I, being a freedom-loving Sadge, don’t like the idea of HAVING TO write/be creative on demand. (Deadlines are different and I love them – they’re like a challenge.) Yet I know that writing daily is what you’re supposed to do as a writer and so NaNoWriMo is an excellent tool – for most other writers. Hence my encouragement to join.
Having that accountability works for a lot of writers. It works for me too, with other things – like going to the gym. I’ll perfectly happily stay in bed and sleep late, but if I know one of my friends will be disappointed or let down if I cancel our gym date, I’ll suck it up, leave my warm nest and go.
This does not mean, however, that I will go happily, or that I will go sans complaint.
But that’s neither here nor there. This is about NaNoWriMo.
I did kind of a little, personal, unofficial NonNaNoWriMo last year, where I attempted to write daily. Yeah, that so didn’t work. It worked for about a week.
Don’t ask me how this differs from crunch time on a deadline. It just does. I never claimed I was in any way sane.
However, this year I’m tempted to try the Official NaNoWriMo. Just to see. Just to say I’ve done it. I know several people who are doing it, but everyone knows that I’m not a joiner.
Maybe that’s got to do with being a commitmentophobe, but really I just think it’s got to do with me being an anti-social loner. I don’t “join” things. I work alone, thanks. If “everyone is doing it”, then I want no part of it. I’ll wait until everyone else is doing something else before I wander over and take a look at what they were so fascinated with.
But there’s also the hypocrite/”practice what you preach” aspect. Can I justifiably encourage writers of all levels – beginners, n00bs, semi-pros, professionals, wannabes and wish-they-hads – to do something that I, myself, am not doing/haven’t done?
Again, hence the ambivalence. Here it is, three days until the start of NaNoWriMo, and I’m still undecided about joining. I’ve got myself about 70% convinced that I should do it.
Go on, Dina…give it a shot.
70% is much better than last year, in which I didn’t think twice about NOT joining. I’d made up my mind that I wasn’t going to do it, and didn’t. At least, not officially.
This year…well…*straddles the fence*.
I work really well under pressure. That’s not the issue. Like I said, I’m not worried about being able to do it/make with the words.
I’m just not sure if I want to do it. For some reason, it’s all right if I want to do something. Then it’s my idea, and therefore cool, not something I’m only doing because “everyone else is doing it”.
What? It makes a warped kind of sense to me, and that’s all that matters.
So there! /maturity
Now here’s the part where I’ll pretend to let you all decide my participation (actually, it’s because I can’t seem to make up my own mind about it, and therefore will put the responsibility of the decision onto someone else – avoidance of duty FTW!):
In the form of a comment with one of the answers below, give me a yay or nay.
Should Dina subject herself to NaNoWriMo this year?
A) Absolutely! I want to watch her suffer! No way she can do it!
B) Give it a go! It’s a brilliant writing exercise and after all, you’ll get something out of it even if you don’t make it to the end.
C) Go on, you little hypocrite. Join up and row with the rest of us.
D) Don’t kid yourself. You’ve worked hard the last month anyway and did nearly 40k in a week alone! You deserve a break!
E) You’re considering this why? It’s so not you! Forget about it!
F) You’ve got work to do. Join NaNoWriMo and get to it, slacker!
I appreciate your input.
Oh, and if YOU are a past or present participant (alliteration, FTW!) in NaNoWriMo, let’s hear from you. If I do join, I’ll want to know what it’s like. I’m an inherent researcher by nature (another Sadge trait) and I’ve already gotten past the “how to” and “what’s involved” part.
Now I want to know how it feels/what it’s like to participate, not the mechanics of it.
Thanks in advance!
Cheers,
DJ
P.S. For those participating this year, read these awesome words of encouragement from Neil Gaiman.