| Southern California People: Thinking about Yule, the New Year, and what to do |
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09:51pm 18/10/2009 |
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Willow (a.k.a. ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) lunargypsie) told me last night that if we can get the money together, Abney Park at Edison for New Years would be my Yule present again. So I have a list of things that I need to purchase and about how much I expect to spend when everything is said and done. Last year I stayed at the Kawada Hotel, about two blocks from the Edison. I met a fair number of people last year from L.A. and the surrounding region. My question to those down there, would you be willing to either have a guest crash on your couch for a night or go in on a hotel room for a night? Is anyone interested in such a venture? mood:  giddy |
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Read 1 - Post - Add to Memories - Tell a Friend - Link
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| Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire |
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09:25am 23/09/2009 |
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Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire I admit it, I've been on a bit of a reading binge lately. Yesterday, I finished up Rosemary and Rue and I liked it. I liked it a lot and I'm not a big fan of fantasy, preferring horror and science-fiction for my reading time. To be fair, the story of October Daye is urban fantasy, rather than pure fantasy and the book is very urban in tone. Here's the basic premise of the book: October "Toby" Daye is a changeling, half human and half fairy, who works as a private investigator. The story opens with Toby doing a job that goes wrong and she spends the next 14 years as a fish. In that time, the world has moved on without her, including her husband and daughter. For the next 6 months following her escape from the pond, Toby turns her back on the fairy and its politics. That is until the Countess Evening Winterrose curses Toby to solve her own impending murder. Now Toby must solve the crime and bring the murderer to justice or die from Winterrose's binding. I had the hardest time putting the book down. I was reading while walking to the deli to get lunch, reading while code was compiling, where ever I could get. The action was well paced. Toby was brutalized like Bruce Campbell in a Sam Raimi film. The world is rich and vibrant with so many nooks and crannies that have yet to be explored. Plots relevant to main story arc were tied up nicely, but there are plenty of loose threads hanging in the winds for future books. If you haven't read Rosemary and Rue yet, you should drop everything, go get it, and enjoy. If you ask me, March 2nd, 2010 cannot get here soon enough. mood:  working |
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Read 2 - Post - Add to Memories - Tell a Friend - Link
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| Review of Grants Pass |
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12:53pm 22/09/2009 |
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Grants Pass A week and a half ago, I finished up Grants Pass, created by Jennifer Brozek ( jennifer_brozek), edited by Jennifer Brozek and Amanda Pillar ( amandapillar), published by Morrigan Books. I suppose I should offer a quick disclaimer. I have been a cheerleader of this project since the beginning when Jenn and I would take our lunch time walks when we used to work together. So I've been anxious to get my hands on this book for a long time. Personally, I am a slow reader, so if a book doesn't hold my interest, I'm not about to invest any more of my time with it. With that said, you might be wondering how Grants Pass faired? Swimmingly! There was only one store that I didn't really care for in terms of style and storytelling, "Black Heart, White Mourning" by Jay Lake, but the story did make me think and that's a good thing. Three of the stories actually made me cry. The first of those was "Animal Husbrandy" by Seanan McGuire ( seanan_mcguire) , which hit me really hard, both when Seannan read it aloud at Soul Food Books and when I read it again on my own. As a parent, I connected with one of the character and the choices he has to make for the betterment of his child. "Newfound Gap", by Lee Clark Zumpe, had me with hope, that desperate kind which pushes people forward. Sometimes that drive pays off and sometimes it doesn't. My need for Kleenex was based out of one of those two ends. I'll let you read the story and find out which. Lastly, "Remembrance", by James M. Sullivan ( sylvan), sets us up with hope again, like several of the other stories. Like "Newfound Gap", the hope pivots around reconnecting with a separated loved one and doing whatever one can to survive. If you like apocalyptic fiction with good character development and well told stories, I can't recommend this book enough. mood: working |
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| PSA: Stopped Model Mailing List |
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09:33pm 08/09/2009 |
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The mailing list I had for models eaten in a mail server upgrade. I use this list for announcing any model needs that I might have for a given shoot. In addition to posting to LiveJournal, Facebook, and any number of boards, this list also is a source for announcements. If you would like to be added, simply send an e-mail to rory (at) stopped-motion (dot) com and I will add you back onto the list. Thanks! mood:  busy |
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Read 2 - Post - Add to Memories - Tell a Friend - Link
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| Brief initial thoughts on the D700 |
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02:49am 28/08/2009 |
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- The D700 body alone has more heft to it--it's the same body as the D300--than the old D70, but if you add the vertical grip with the extra battery it could be lethal if used in a fight.
- I like the view finder more than the D70, except that I can't seem to get the view finder focus nob to move, so everything is blurry in the view finder.
- That ginormous (in comparison to the D70) LCD screen is really, really nice to have.
- Holy cow! There are a ton more buttons than the D70 and menu options are almost overwhelming.
That's all for now, I need to get out the door. mood:  geeky |
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| A couple of things before I dash off to work... |
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06:34am 27/08/2009 |
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The Nikon D700 arrives this afternoon and it will be replacing my Nikon D70, which has served me for 5 years now and has been a real work horse. Full frame sensor and better high ISO noise reduction are just two of the reasons for upgrading. I'm still keeping the D70 as a backup camera. Yesterday, the vertical grip arrived for the new camera and the two batteries that came with it. This is probably the best definition of cissexism I've seen so far: We define cisgenderism as the systematic privileging of cisgender people (people who identify with and perform the gender associated with their sex assigned at birth in socially acceptable ways) over transgender and gender non-conforming people, and cissexism as the systematic privileging of cissexual people (people who identify with the sex assigned to them at birth) over transsexual and intersex people. - ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) debunkingcis Lastly, tomorrow morning at 3:00am, I leave for the Bay Area for my photo project, " I Will Never Forget". We should be in town no later than 6pm, probably a lot sooner. I always set my routing and mapping programs to be "slower" than normal just to make sure I have wiggle room in the drive time. |
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Read 3 - Post - Add to Memories - Tell a Friend - Link
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hopeful
happy
amused
good