Tuesday night, headachy

[cleolinda]

1. I fought off several attacks of The Blahs today, but ended up getting a lot done. I'm trying to sort out the first three chapters at this point--rearranging the old material into logical concert with the new, and so on. Let's put it this way: I wanted to finish this by my birthday, December 14. Today is November 13. I'm not going to do the actual math, but we're talking twenty chapters that have to be filled out and whipped into shape in roughly thirty days. When you consider that I won't be able to write every single day (that's just Murphy's Law talking. Also, you've got Thanksgiving, and I know at least one or two days will be given over entirely to midnight-showing Golden Compass squee), and that I'd probably like to have a little time just to revise things on a word-by-word level... we're talking one chapter per day. Some chapters'll probably take an hour's run-through; the last chapter is going to involve a lot of raw drafting. Really, I just want to have it in a complete, readable format so I can show it to some close friends and, hopefully, my agent, with the understanding that I can still polish it at my leisure and double-check some research details for a little while, while it's shopping around. I've been working on it for four years now--I'd like to give it six months in a drawer, but it had a year or two in a drawer, unfinished, as it was.

But it's an arbitrary deadline. I made it up. Why is it such a big deal?

Because I'm going to be twenty-nine, which is almost thirty, and this is what I've wanted to do my entire life--write novels and, with any luck, publish them--and I haven't done it yet. If I don't draw a line at some point, any point, when is it ever going to get done? This point's as good as any other point.

2. Unfortunately I have a headache now, but it comes with the territory.

3. Questions that are not the most helpful to ask a writer: "So... who's the audience?" "Uh... people who like to read this kind of thing?"

4. I'm saying this here so as not to pick on any one person, but: ARGUING IN CLEO'S JOURNAL BAAAAD.

5. In other housekeeping issues, enough people are emailing me about the Free Rice thing (which I linked!) that it sounds y'all want a little graphic at the bottom of the page. I'm worried about reaching a saturation point with the reminder graphics, though, so I'm thinking of combining all the click-a-day sites into one graphic. Would this work for people? There's tabs at the top of the Hunger page to the others.

Linkspam:

It's a horrible story, but if you've got kids on MySpace, you need to read this: MySpace faked by enemy's parents drives 13-year-old to suicide.

She told the Meiers that Josh Evans was created by adults, a family on their block. These adults, she told the Meiers, were the parents of Megan's former girlfriend, the one with whom she had a falling out. These were the people who'd asked the Meiers to store their foosball table.

The single mother, for this story, requested that her name not be used. She said her daughter, who had carpooled with the family that was involved in creating the phony MySpace account, had the password to the Josh Evans account and had sent one message - the one Megan received (and later retrieved off the hard drive) the night before she took her life.

"She had been encouraged to join in the joke," the single mother said.

The single mother said her daughter feels the guilt of not saying something sooner and for writing that message. Her daughter didn't speak out sooner because she'd known the other family for years and thought that what they were doing must be OK because, after all, they were trusted adults.

On the night the ambulance came for Megan, the single mother said, before it left the Meiers' house her daughter received a call. It was the woman behind the creation of the Josh Evans account. She had called to tell the girl that something had happened to Megan and advised the girl not to mention the MySpace account.

Striking TV, film writers take protest to Wall Street; 'Scrubs' Creator Refuses To Bow to Strike Pressure; Soap writers cross the picket line; Schwarzenegger moves backstage in writers strike; Photo of the Day: Dogs Can Strike Too! (O snap, that t-shirt.)

'The Bachelor': That sound you hear is the women's movement flatlining. YAY FOR WRITERLESS TELEVISION.

Former pilots and officials call for new U.S. UFO probe. Pet grammatical peeve: do UFOs exist? Of course they do. Was it flying? Yes? Was it identified? No? Then it's a UFO.

Mystery $100M donation lifts Pa. city.

Ira Levin, of ‘Rosemary’s Baby,’ Dies at 78.

Cremation ashes at Disneyland -- a dusty epidemic. "The ash was identified by the Anaheim Police as cremated remains, and the custodial department found most of it all over the 'Captain's Quarters' scene in the [POTC ride] caverns."

BBC's snappy answers to climate-change denial.

John Scalzi tours the Creation Museum. With lengthy, snarky photo gallery.

Members sue ‘Hannah Montana’ fan club.

Polar Bears International!

trailer_spot: Revolver, Purple Violets, Air I Breathe, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince featurettes, Beowulf.

Harry Potter: Jessie Cave to Play Lavender Brown; The Face of Lavender Brown.

The Golden Compass: Kate Bush pens end credits song “Lyra.” Also: PAN!

Max Headroom Joins Watchmen.

Is This The New Bond Girl, Nearly Naked?

Beowulf's Ray Winstone Interviewed.

Mailer's Son Gets Film Rights to 'The Naked and the Dead.'

Michael Pitt in Talks for Oliver Stone's 'Pinkville.'

Juno Duo Reunites For Jennifer's Body.

Kristen Stewart NOT cast as Bella in Meyer's Twilight.

Mist Alters King's Ending.

Ridley Scott to Direct 'Stones' ("it's a supernatural thriller that deals with ancient landmarks like Stonehenge and the Great Pyramids").

No Songs For Enchanted Star Menzel.

Southland Tales Wins Festival Love.

Jeff Goldblum's Mockumentary Gets Hit with a Lawsuit.

Yep, Someone Made a Documentary About ... 'Troll 2.'

Indiana Jones Legos Reveal Key Scenes, Desperation.

Comments

[rockgeisha.livejournal.com]

Offtopic to everything here but you're one of the few people I still know who can appreciate how ridiculous this is. I just got this message out of the blue on myspace:

the last time you saw me was at Purple Onion and you ignore me and Patrick. Glad to see age it treating you well. We have a wonderful little girl that looks so much like her daddy. Everyone in Patrick's family loves me because you were such a bitch. Thank you.

Okay!

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

"You're such a bitch! Man, I wish you and your bitchery hadn't ignored me! Thanks!"

Wheeeee, someone needs some happy pills.

[redcoast.livejournal.com]

Man, I'm in the same boat. I wanted to finish my current writing project by the end of this semester ... not going to happen.

[camisado.livejournal.com]

Wow. That Myspace story is just terrible.

"I know that they did not physically come up to our house and tie a belt around her neck," Tina says. "But when adults are involved and continue to screw with a 13-year-old - with or without mental problems - it is absolutely vile."

Absolutely vile indeed. It's hard to believe there's nothing they can do to hold those horrible people accountable for their actions. Harrassing a child until she kills herself is something you can't prosecute? I guess without evidence of that last message it would be difficult, but they have all those other messages too..

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

And the police report where the woman describes what they did!

[viorica8957.livejournal.com]

I want to punch the people in that MySpace story. So hard. How could a parent- how could anyone do that to a vulnerable child? *spits*

[arielchan.livejournal.com]

I actually have owned Troll 2 since I was about 7. My grandparents bought it at a garage sale and realized it was terrible, so for some reason they gave it to me.

[glass-radical.livejournal.com]

This Creation Museum thing is giving me a serious case of the lulz.

[elbales]

Yeah... it's a good anodyne for the MySpace story.

[tifaria.livejournal.com]

The myspace story makes me feel ill.

(She) felt this incident contributed to Megan's suicide, but she did not feel 'as guilty' because at the funeral she found out 'Megan had tried to commit suicide before.'"

Yeah, I'm gonna go throw up now. I hope there is a special circle of hell for these people.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I kind of want to find out who these people are and move next door to them, because it's hard to shun them from this distance.

[firei.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for posting that myspace story. I hadn't heard about it.

That's so horrible. Those poor people. :(

[laughingacademy.livejournal.com]

Pet grammatical peeve: do UFOs exist? Of course they do. Was it flying? Yes? Was it identified? No? Then it's a UFO.

Whenever someone asks me if I believe in UFOs, my standard response is, “I’m certain that people see airborne objects they cannot identify. I have a harder time with the idea that the objects are vehicles piloted by ETs with nothing better to do than anal probes and cattle mutilations.”

[elbales]

For the win!

[nohara-megami.livejournal.com]

That Myspace story is just terrible. I cannot imagine anyone doing what those people did.
Makes me sick to think that I am the same species as them.

[princessstarr.livejournal.com]

That MySpace story is horrible. Faith in humanity took a real new low.

[glass-radical.livejournal.com]

I just finished reading the myspace story, and now feel the need to do some violence. How could people do that to a child? How utterly vile.

[paradise-loved.livejournal.com]

so what do you think of lavender? i think she looks fairly accurate to how i imagined her.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

*thumbs up*

Still not all that happy about our new Narcissa, but you take what you can get.

[thyroyalmajesty.livejournal.com]

Interesting to note: a police report was filed regarding the destroyed fooseball table. Clearly, after the parents of the dead girl destroyed it and gave it back to the people who faked the MySpace page, the fakers must have reported its destruction to the police. Because after all, those are the people who clearly need to be put in jail!

And the fakers get off scott free.

The stupid, it burns me.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Don't forget the damage to the lawn!

[idrach.livejournal.com]

This is like the second comment I'm making on the topic, but... I know it's wrong to hope something awful happens to a person, however I'd like to make an exception just this once. Those adults knew what they were doing. They didn't intend for Megan to commit suicide, but they knew what they were doing when they messed around with her head and emotions and pressured that other girl into joining in. At first I was a little annoyed with Megan's mother, because Megan was going through something awful and her mother's response was to scold her, but... she lost her child and her marriage is ruined. All because a couple of parents were miffed that their daughter's friend had decided that her friendship was toxic and wanted to end it. It's middle school. That sort of thing happens. And no, hearing a rumor that Megan had tried to commit suicide before is no justification for feeling okay about it.

Not only that, but look at the kind of person they're turning their little girl into. They didn't ruin just Megan's and her family's lives. They're ruining their daughter's too, by modeling repulsive behavior as being "the norm". This whole affair is so awful. I know what it's like having your head messed with (any female does, because that's how we "fight"); thank God it wasn't like that. I want to reassure Megan, but I can't. She's not here anymore.

[viorica8957.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that was my reaction to the mom's scolding as well. You comfort your kid when she's in tears over something, you don't yell at them beause you want them off the computer.

[quenbolyn.livejournal.com]

Because I'm going to be twenty-nine, which is almost thirty, and this is what I've wanted to do my entire life--write novels and, with any luck, publish them--and I haven't done it yet. If I don't draw a line at some point, any point, when is it ever going to get done? This point's as good as any other point.

Oh, man. I'm going to be twenty-seven (all too soon) and I feel like you stole the thoughts straight out of my head, even down to the making up arbitrary deadlines to get things finished. (Mine is January 2nd, but that's just because it's the end of Christmas break and the day I have to go back to work for the new year. Ergh.)

HPV Turns Man into Ent; Plus, Jackalopes

[laughingacademy.livejournal.com]

Hey Cleo, have you heard anything about this? The photos are jaw-dropping.

Tree man 'who grew roots' may be cured (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=MLYGYKBGOGQ2DQFIQMFSFGGAVCBQ0IV0?xml=/news/2007/11/12/wtree112.xml)

Also, Not all jackalopes are fake; some are just really unfortunate. (http://ww2.lafayette.edu/~hollidac/jacksforreal.html)

One of the comments to the post (http://crimsonclad.livejournal.com/120764.html) where I found the links said that the Telegraph article is an update on a story that broke a year ago, which I apparently missed entirely because there is no way I’d’ve forgotten something like that.

Re: HPV Turns Man into Ent; Plus, Jackalopes

[falco-conlon.livejournal.com]

ACK! Can I please just say how horrifying those Jackalope pictures are!?

[greyduck.livejournal.com]

John Scalzi's trip through the Creation Museum... just, wow. Folks, take my word for it: Go through the Flikr gallery, don't just read the essay (as good as it is). Guaranteed brain explosion or your money back.

I repeat, wow.

[newsong.livejournal.com]

Click-a-day could be one graphic =)

[cosette-esk.livejournal.com]

Omg Pan! Squee! *huggles*

[alankria.livejournal.com]

What I've found with setting myself deadlines is that even if I don't manage to make the deadline, I still manage to write considerably more than if I hadn't set that deadline. And then, with that progress under my belt, I normally meet the next deadline I set myself, which still sees completion far sooner than if I'd not set any deadlines.

Good luck with yours!

(And I have so much gobsmacked rage over that myspace thing. I just don't understand how adults can think such cruelty is acceptable behaviour. *froths*)

[bigeyedrabbit.livejournal.com]

OH KATE BUSH. Her involvement, however remote, is almost enough to tempt me into giving the His Dark Materials trilogy one more try (I tried really hard to read them, honest I did, but I keep bogging down).

[foresthouse.livejournal.com]

You can do it! You can do it! We're here for you when you need us. *hugs*

I am so excited about the movie now that I've finished the His Dark Materials stuff (still digesting the series, as just finished). Also I love Kate Bush, so hurrah!

...That myspace story is TERRIBLE. Ick. It makes me ill just thinking of what those assholes did.

[pinstripe-bindi.livejournal.com]

From the moment I heard they were making The Mist into a movie, I figured the ending would be altered. The original ending works for a (long) short story, but on the screen you would totally be left going "WAIT, WHAT?!"

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

What intrigues me is that apparently King replied, "Oh, if I'd thought of that, I would have used it."

[k-puff.livejournal.com]

Cleo, let it be known that for asshattery in Hollywood, I go to you first.

Who decided that a live-action Dragonball Z was a good idea? (http://movies.ign.com/articles/835/835143p1.html)