Checkin' checkin' in

[cleolinda]

Bored to death, what with not having a computer around 24/7--impossible to work on anything for any significant length of time, obviously. Watched Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte yesterday, for lack of anything more interesting to do (and you know what, everyone always talks about Bette Davis hamming it up in that movie, but I don't think anyone ever gives Olivia de Havilland any credit for being a completely fierce bitch. "I will NEVER suffer for you AGAIN!!!"), and then a couple of true crime things on the I.D. channel (it's basically true crime all the time, yays). I should clean instead, but blarg. That said, I did hand-write most of a short story last night, completely on a whim--the last third or so isn't written down, but it's pretty solidly written out in my head. If I can find a market for it--I'm being purposefully vague on the genre/topic at the moment--I think it could actually do pretty well. I mean, if it turns out to be any good. The only problem is that I'll have to wait for the laptop to come in, because I am NOT typing it up on the family computer. You will understand why if it ever comes to fruition.

(How I write in such a situation: mechanical pencil on unlined white printer paper. In case you were wondering.)

Comments

[bluinkalchemist.livejournal.com]

<3 the lolcat.

Glad you got some writing done. I too would rather write by hand than deal with a computer that has gravel in its hard drive instead of ball bearings.

[fineprnt.livejournal.com]

I saw this kitteh last night and it brought warm giggly feelings into my dreams.

[narcolepticcat.livejournal.com]

reflectionsedge.com is a good market for good short genre stuff (fantasy/scifi/horror/erotica/western/romance/etc).

[emmaorgana.livejournal.com]

Olivia de Havilland is a fierce bitch no matter what she's in. Even in Gone With The Wind, she slowly suffocates people with sweetness and kindess. The worst way to go! :p

Am sending you massive *recieve computer quickly and have it work properly* vibes. I hope they work.

I could never write on unlined paper. I'd end up writing at a diagonal and I'm far to anal to let such a travesty occur. Cheap $0.99 notebooks with cheap wide rule paper and my Ravenclaw pen I got at the Harry Potter exhibit in June is my preferred method. I admire your ability to write straighter than I! :)

[diddakoi.livejournal.com]

She can also rock silver lame(accent) Marion dresses like no one else.

[lisa-zj.livejournal.com]

Funny how slowly times passes when the computer is down, isn't it? Believe me, I feel your pain. At least Monday is closer now.

[minlette.livejournal.com]

i literally saw that picture and thought "i should go see if cleo has this." also, i agree with the above poster: i would always end up writing in diagonals. and it would make me crazy.

[count-01.livejournal.com]

I am a legal-pad fan myself, in black ultrafine ink. (makes the scribbly bits, which is basically anything handwritten by me, look anachronistic and elegant instead of sloppy and impatiently rewritten, which is more often the case)

[derangeddarling.livejournal.com]

me too. i can't live without my legal pad. i keep one around at all times and it's used for everything. Notes to people, shopping lists, story ideas, calendar reminders.

I even have the big ones and the little ones. For some reason, I got obsessed with them during my last year of college and now I can't live without one.

I didn't even think to mention that my lined paper is a legal pad until I saw this comment because it seems so normal to me XD

[particle-person.livejournal.com]

You must have super-neat handwriting to write without the lines.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Well, it gets a bit cat-scratch on a legibility level, but yeah, it's pretty orderly looking in terms of lines and spacing. I'll have to take a picture of a page sometime. I can't even remember, do you guys know what my handwriting looks like?

[crevette.livejournal.com]

That Lolcat needs to be captioned, "My ponies hate you!"

[rat-kitten.livejournal.com]

That's exactly what popped into my head as soon as I saw it!

[litlover12.livejournal.com]

That lolcat is AWESOME.

[mugglemomof2.livejournal.com]

lolcat is great!

It amazes me we used to be able to function without computers. Kudos for you for getting what you did down longhand! Hope the computer comes in quick so you can get your story down.

[scornedsaint.livejournal.com]

(How I write in such a situation: mechanical pencil on unlined white printer paper. In case you were wondering.)

Aw, that's what I did last fall when my laptop broke during midterms. I knocked out two essays about Chaucer that way.

I'm very intrigued about the short story. Keep us (mysteriously) posted!

[greedyskunk.livejournal.com]

I hope those ponies are being directed to chase out all the electronic gremlins your house seems to be harboring.

I like writing on an old manual typewriter from the 50's. It's not as sloppy as my handwriting, but not so impersonal as the computer. Seeing the stack of pages grow is such an amazing feeling! I finished NaNoWriMo, looked at my stack and thought, "Damn, I just wrote a book." :D

[kellyrfineman.livejournal.com]

Have you seen Bette Davis and Joan Crawford in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? Creeptastically excellent. Or maybe it's the lingering horror from seeing it when I was 11, and home alone.

[greedyskunk.livejournal.com]

That movie is so good! What is really creepy is that as my grandmother gets older, she's starting to become more coy and reminds me of Bette Davis in that movie. It's kind of disturbing. Not everyone wants to see you bat your eyelashes and stick out your tongue, Grandma!

[angelene.livejournal.com]

(How I write in such a situation: mechanical pencil on unlined white printer paper. In case you were wondering.)

That is interesting.

Although... why pencil? I can think of a reason or two why it might be inconvenient, one being the risk of the text fading away in time, although I suppose that might be not utterly relevant in the case of this particular draft (i.e. you mean to type it out anyway and so on). Honest question here, no OMGWHYWOULDYOUDOTHAT intended! I'm just curious. :)

Oh, and I love that movie -- even though I was only ever able to see (the first) half of it.

[eofs.livejournal.com]

One of the best essays I ever wrote was written in pencil (which meant that when the teacher then wanted to photocopy it to share with the whole class I had to type it up, sigh). I had started off with absolute no confidence that I could write the essay at all - title something like "discuss the use of weather in Snow Falling on Cedars" or thereabouts. I was feeling completely like I couldn't write it.

So I started in pencil, because pencil was less intimidating and had an attractive impermanence. It was a message to my brain that "this doesn't have to be perfect, because you could just rub it all out". (This was a timed essay, not the sort you could redraft.) And of course I then ended up getting really into it and writing something amazing.

Which is not at all to suggest that's why Cleo used pencil, but I thought would be an interesting perspective on one reason to use pencil.

[gorgeousnerd]

Ooh, does this mean we get to share how we write by hand? I love topics like this?

As for me, I go back and forth between the cheap Bic pens and mechanical pencils on spiral notebook paper.

[tabbyclaw.livejournal.com]

Black ballpoint pen on receipt paper. If I'm hand-writing, I'm probably stuck running a cash register at work.

[eofs.livejournal.com]

The only problem is that I'll have to wait for the laptop to come in, because I am NOT typing it up on the family computer. You will understand why if it ever comes to fruition.

Ah. Porn. ;0)

*Looks innocent*

[lisa-zj.livejournal.com]

Porn? From Cleo? Hotness maybe, but porn? Hahahaha, I don't think so. Even recapping True Blood makes her blush. :) She is a lady dammit! ;)

[soleta-nf.livejournal.com]

Ooh! Short stories are a great way to get some publishing credits. I hope it works out!

[elbales]

Hey, Cleo. I commend your fortitude. I'd have driven to Alabaster to pick up that laptop, because I would be an absolute gibbering mess after this whole saga. And a Cleo short story, how awesome.

[laughingacademy.livejournal.com]

Attention, fellow GLBTQ-sympathetic SF fans! Following in the footsteps of Orson Scott Card, another writer, johncwright, has had an online meltdown (http://johncwright.livejournal.com/269139.html) over teh gheys:

The head of Sci-Fi channel has contritely promised to include more homosex in future shows,* and to do it nonchalantly, just as if this abomination is normal and natural and worthy of no comment...I am hoping, of course, that future shows will also portray sadomasochism and bondage in a positive light -- we are all looking forward to FLASH GORDON'S TRIP TO GOR, I hope. Love affairs with corpses, small children, and farm animals will also be on display in a natural nonchalant fashion in the new raft of progressive shows, titles such as I DREAM OF STINKY, PEDERASTY JUNCTION, and OLD MACDONALD HAD A SHEEP...

He has since more or less deleted the original LJ entry, posted some apologetic follow-ups, and disabled comments. You can read some more quotes at Journalfen (http://www.journalfen.net/community/otf_wank/624674.html).

I find this all ironic, since he is apparently married to Stephen “I don’t see race” Colbert (http://arhyalon.livejournal.com/75688.html). Yes, this really is the journal of L. Jagi Lamplighter (or Mrs. John C. Wright, as Mr. Wright refers to his spouse on his LJ (http://johncwright.livejournal.com/271644.html")).

* GLAAD gave SyFy an F grade for inclusion and representation of GLBTQ characters in its programming. (http://www.seattlepi.com/tvguide/408807_tvgif28.html) A representative for the channel responded with a statement pointing out that Caprica and Stargate Universe will both feature gay characters.

[amberdulen.livejournal.com]

You probably know this, but for short story markets, Duotrope's Digest rules.

[edda.livejournal.com]

All my various digits are crossed that you get a KICKASS laptop in very short order.

[limiinal.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear this computer clusterfuck didn't affect your writing mojo. Good luck with it!

" The only problem is that I'll have to wait for the laptop to come in, because I am NOT typing it up on the family computer."
Ahahaha. I'm amazed at the stories I'd type up on the family computer back when I was young and (more) stupid. Thank god the folks were even more computer illiterate than I was.

[goonie-freak.livejournal.com]

I.D. is the best channel EVAR! I have it on right now as a matter of fact! (I actually have to have it on to get to sleep at night... it's a weird comfort blanket for me... I have no idea why)

re: lolcat

[lylassandra.livejournal.com]

Sooo... Edward's getting a kitten?

Re: lolcat

[elbales]

Your words strike terror into my heart.

[rahrahmah.livejournal.com]

"How I write in such a situation: mechanical pencil on unlined white printer paper."

Oh lord, this would drive me crazy. Something about unlined plain white paper, all smooth like that... it like, demands perfection, and I'd never be able to do anything but carefully copy out a final draft on it. People's quirks are funny.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

See, I like it because it's a completely blank canvas, and I can turn it 45 degrees and write diagonally or do brainstorm clusters or write separate ideas in boxes or whatever the hell. I look at it more as a whiteboard than a fine manuscript.