Oh my!

300 posts! Well, I never thought I'd manage that. I quit my first ever blog on 99 posts, then the second blog on four posts. Way hay, congratulations me!

Anyway... I once again picked up Dust by Elizabeth Bear the other day and have been reading it when I have a spare second. When I first picked it up I couldn't get into it, my brain just wasn't in the right space to process it. With Principessa being ill over the weekend, reading seconds have been few and far between, so it's been slow going. Until last night. The story hit the ground running, and I became completely enthralled! I had promised myself an early night, but the book had other ideas. I was loathe to put it down to go to sleep, but my eyes threatened a boycott (why does boycott have two 't's? Is there really any reason?) and the cocktail sticks were becoming ever so slightly riotous against the rallying eyelids! I will resume reading again once I've finished on the net. (Now very tempted to buy the Promethean Age series.)

But... maybe I should do some writing first?

Age banding - what an idiotic idea.

So, the latest hair-brained idea to hit our bookshelves will be age banding. Publishers are aiming to put a banding system on book covers to advise on the 'reading age' of the books. I'm sorry, but this is a bit ridiculous. Think about it. This is going to alienate readers, children especially, by giving a system that says 'well maybe this book is a bit too old for you.' Surely this is the job of the parents, not the publishers? This system is going to an exclusive thing, rather than inclusive, and haven't kids nowadays got enough to cause them complexes? Books are meant for escapism, not to tell a kid 'hey, this isn't for you, so don't even think about it', which is what this system could do. Okay, I know it's there already, but it's invisible, guides in book club magazines etc., there for parental advise. That's how it should stay. If a child is reading, and old enough to choose the books they enjoy reading, then they should be allowed to do so.

I'd hate to think what would have happened if this system was around when I was young and getting into reading. One of the books that really gave me the bug for reading was James Herbert's Rats, and I picked that up when I was bored one day when I was about 12. If it had been banded I know it would be put out of my 'age range' being a horror book, and being the way I was when I was younger I probably would have left it alone. The same with some of the sci-fi books I picked up. This banding system is a really idiotic idea.

If you agree, and you haven't already, go to No to Age Banding and sign up. This is a restrictive system that is not necessary. Surely it's just adding to the whole nanny state business?

Bloody Torchwood!

I'm so glad it's back. I missed it. And it has added attractions now, in the form of James Marsters (Spike from Buffy). I have to admit, he was looking quite good ;) I did feel that there was a big nod to Buffy with some lines in the new episode, and the Jack/John fight/kiss scene was very reminiscent of the Buffy/Spike fight/sex scene in the Buffy S6 episode 'Smashed'. There seems to be a lot more humour in it too, and I like the idea of a running storyline. The first series, although there were underlying stories that ran throughout, had episodes that were more stand alone. But I'm glad it's back, sports car driving blowfish and all.

Kirst was around today. We're not actually going to read each other's essays now, Kirst doesn't want to be influenced by what I have put in my essay. We also checked to see if her course materials had been sent out to her only to find out that DHL has supposedly tried to deliver them on 21 December. Well, how was Kirst meant to know when no card had been left? Anyway, DHL has sent the parcel back to the OU, so we had to contact them to have the stuff sent back out again. We also sent an email to find out when they were assigning us with a tutor, too. It's all a bit like pulling teeth at the mo.

Had a bit of a crap evening last night. The controller on my chair riser broke, leaving me without a seat in the front room. We called Social Services careline to report the fault, but it still left me stranded and having to sit upstairs in my room. Despite this, Principessa was very good this morning, sitting upstairs happily watching her DVD's on her little portable player, while every now and again jumping on the bed for a cuddle and requesting tickles. Strange girl! The Social called at around 10am to let us know that someone would be around to fix the chair riser at around midday. *Phew* is all I can say, I am glad that they fixed it so fast. I hate being stuck upstairs.

I still haven't done much writing. I seem to have completely locked out novel and story writing, but I have written a few poems, so I suppose all is not lost. I am glad to see that other writers do not write things that are meant to be full of symbolism. I don't think about underlying messages when I write and just write what I feel is right for the story. I found this out when I sent an excerpt from one of the stories in progress to a Japanese friend. When she wrote back to me, she told me what she thought of my writing, and what she thought it symbolised. It was so interesting to see what she had read into what I had written. It made me feel really good!

I have been reading a lot of Wil Wheaton's blog recently. Not only is it a good read, but it's interesting to see that he shares a lot of the same writing frustrations as lowly folk like me!

On the reading front, I am doing lots. I thought it was a more positive way to fill time while not finding the spirit of writing within me. Pygmalion is finished, I'm part way through 'Jane Eyre' and the Sandman graphic novel 'The Doll's House', and I have two Haruki Murakami books to read once I'm done with the other stuff. Then I'll have a read of 'Wide Sargasso Sea', the Sandman graphic novel 'Dream Country' and then Euripides 'Medea'.

*Phew!* That'll give me something to do!

It's a good job technology hasn't got teeth...

Because it sucks. And it sucks big time.

We finally went 21st century with the V+ box, only to find that a number of the channels don't work. What really gets my goat is that More 4 has died, that means I wont be able to watch the new series of ER which started last night. Grrrrr! I've already had to give up with Lost and 24 because Sky 1 was rudely taken from us after a horrible and needless fight between Virgin and Sky.

Ho hum.

(I know this moan is about something really mundane, but being of the not going out type, except when it's necessary, I like to watch me TV shows!)

While I remember, you may have noticed a flashy mouse over thataway ------------>
Well, please sign up to it and raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign by using their search engine (given, it's not as good as google, but google doesn't raise money just by clicking it), it would mean a great deal :D

Well, I'm off to finally read Black Orchid followed by Jane Eyre.

Want that one!

I hate having those “I want it NOW” moments. I’ve had to buy some new notebooks so that I can do some writing, because I don’t really like sitting at the computer and typing. In fact, typing is my least favourite part of writing. I suppose it’s something to do with why I don’t like e-books. I really love books and reading, the texture of the paper under my fingers, the smell of the pages, and just the general feeling of substance in my hands. It’s almost like it’s an achievement when you get to the end of a book and you close the final page. You don’t get that with an e-book. No smell, no substance, no feeling of achievement. Just the whirring of the fan and the clicking of the arrow key as you scroll. And I hate scrolling.

The same goes for writing. When you write you can feel the paper under your hand, and then pen in your fingers. There is the satisfying scratching of the pen on the paper as it carves out the words you manipulate it to shape. There is the smell of the ink. All the intrinsic components that, without them, makes writing soulless. That is how writing on a computer makes me feel.

Okay, so you can spell check on the computer in a flash, and when you write you have to thumb through a dictionary. But thumbing through the dictionary can be a journey of discovery itself. You stumble across words that are magical and fantastical all at the same time. Then there is the word you want to use. The dictionary provides distraction as you search for your original word and this can spark other ideas just on the scanning of a word you were not originally interested in. Fantastic.

But now, back to the ‘I want it NOW’ thing. I was looking at notebooks online yesterday and found a site selling digital notebooks. Curiosity piqued, I looked further into this wonderful and alien conception. Well, I want one. The pads are simply pads of paper; though special, magic paper. The magical digital pen partners the magical paper pad. The pen films your handwriting as you scribble on the pad. With the special software the computer reads your handwriting and transfers it into a Word document. Abracadabra! No more losing the all-absorbing enchantment of writing.