I am all out of titles

[cleolinda]

I have been writing so hard and so fast lately--seized by an idea and therefore cheating on my long-term projects, which actually seems to happen a lot in the second half of any given year--that I am miserably behind on the news. (And I'm at the really exciting part, too, where you get to do lots of research and world-building. I'm letting it take over because I actually have a window of opportunity, it looks like, to pitch it to someone if I can get enough of it to come together. But it's also making me feel a lot more energized about writing my regular things as well. Except that some of them I've had to table, because of Things We Cannot Speak Of. I know it sounds confusing. It confuses me too, because everything kind of got thrown up into the air and now I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing, because I have so many things I can do that I don't know where to start. It's like walking into a really big buffet, or a a fairground, or a library, or a museum, and feeling a kind of wonderful panic because you don't know where to go first.

WHAT I AM SAYING IS that I feel like I also need to post here more regularly, because a couple of people have said things like "since you've moved to Twitter" and I was like OH BUT NO. Twitter's just an easy way to keep up with things (but not all things) and people (but not all people) with a minimum of effort. Which is useful when you're putting a maximum of effort into other things.

Of course, I did post here yesterday. You all may have come to regret that now.

(I'm sorry--I know how disturbing that whole Edward Fashion Cat thing was, but that last picture, I can't stop looking at it. It's like this perfect storm of hilarrible. I laughed so hard at it yesterday that I gave myself a headache, in fact. I think it's because the--victim, let's say--hanging over that woman's shoulder looks like a cat AND a child AND a goblin AND a serial killer, and he really only ought to look like two of those. Because no jury in the world would convict him if something "happened" to his owner. Even if cats got jury trials. What I'm saying is: that shit is so wrong.)

ANYWAY. Let us have a little linkspam!

Because I know you guys like Icelandic epics: the Tattúínárdœlasaga of Lúkr Anakinsson.

It's Halloween LE season at BPAL! There are so many scents (I mean, in life generally) that don't work on me, but their Halloween and Christmas blends tend to have at least a few fruity/foody scents in there. I don't know what the current version smells like, but I will say, Sugar Skull ('04 or '05?) is one of my all-time favorites. And there's a whole new Gothic Fiction set as well, not to mention the Vampires Don't Sleep Alone section.

Via snacky: Noel Cruz's Tonner Arwen and Aragorn repaints are on eBay. The Arwen is just... wow.

Two harpoons and a gunshot later, they brought the halibut in.

An update on that situation with my school: Birmingham-Southern president Pollick resigns. TOO BAD THE SCHOOL GOT JACKED UP FIRST. Also: "“David brought a vision to grow the college in size and national stature that resulted in an increase in our first-year and overall enrollments, and in a significant restructuring of the fundraising operations that resulted in the successful completion of Phase I of the Destiny: Delivered campaign." WHAT ARE YOU EVEN TALKING ABOUT.

@cleolinda: I am breaking up with today. Get your t-shirts and your mixtapes and your toothbrush and GTFO.

@cleolinda: Having broken up with today, I am now eating the last of a container of Ben & Jerry's Creme Brulee ice cream. Interesting custard texture.

(Their Strawberry Cheesecake is also pretty good. Interesting graham cracker swirl.)

New Deathly Hallows pics, including Scrimgeour, Xenophilius, Gregorovitch, etc.

Helen Mirren stars in a fantastical recreation of Shakespeare's "The Tempest." Check out the poster.

Cast announced for BBC Two's The Crimson Petal And The White. One of two books I've wanted to throw across the room, and the other one was Eclipse. It's great up until the very last page, though.

Jason Flemyng Joining X-Men: First Class.

Affleck and Weisz Join Terence Malick's Next Project.

Karl Urban Confimed for a Hard R-Rated 'Judge Dredd' Movie. 

Trailers: Love and Other Drugs, Next Three Days, Woman, a Gun, a Noodle Shop, How Do You Know, Enter the Void.

And finally, mind-blower of the week, via foresthouse: Scott Pilgrim is Twilight for boys. This review is incredibly well-reasoned. I now fear for this man's life.

Comments

[litlover12.livejournal.com]

That Arwen is gorgeous!

"Destiny: Delivered" sounds like a video game, not a college fundraising campaign.

And not even that great cast could lure me to TCPATW. ("Mrs. Castaway"? Really? Not even Dickens ever came up with a name that was THAT on-the-nose!)

[eofs.livejournal.com]

Is it really that bad? I know nothing about the book, but the cast has me almost drooling in anticipation. Although I might have slight trouble with Chris O'Dowd in a costume drama... But in general that's a seriously exciting cast.

[robinmc.livejournal.com]

You and a friend of mine had the exact same reactions to The Crimson Petal and the White. I don't remember being nearly that angry about it, although I think I did go "wait, seriously?"

(Their Strawberry Cheesecake is also pretty good. Interesting graham cracker swirl.) I recently fell in love with Strawberry Cheesecake. I was skeptical at first, although I don't know why, since I love strawberries and I love cheesecake.

Oh god, oh god, I shouldn't have clicked on the halibut link, I knew it was not going to be good...the stuff of nightmares.

[corinnethewise.livejournal.com]

OMG Ben and Jerry's Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream. I so do not need that right now but I NEEEEEEED it right now. Soooooooooooo good!

[big-wired.livejournal.com]

Always glad to read your posts. As someone who's got plenty on my own plate during my days off, I completely understand how you feel. I'm happy to wait for good, quality posts from you.

Ohhh, the Scott Pilgrim is Twilight for boys. That got me to thinking, to the point where I might not even see the movie, as it seems to be in the same vein as a Judd Apatow movie, which I hate with a fiery passion. It also made me pause because this is the first thing I've ever being described as "For Boys."

I've heard of stuff like "She-Ra, He-Man for Girls" or "Supergirl, A superman for girls" and stuff like that, but never For Boys, and to use Twilight too was damned innovative thinking.

[serizawa3000.livejournal.com]

When Peter Jackson's King Kong hit theaters, I thought of it as being "Titanic for guys." :)

[eofs.livejournal.com]

I'm really glad to learn that the reason for your quietness is due to an explosion in writerly productivity. I was becoming a little concerned that maybe something was up. Or possibly, after so long under one roof together, you'd murdered your mother ;0)

Writing is good. Any writing. Good luck and enjoy!

[truevissions86.livejournal.com]

Dude, that's not even funny. I would think you have to know someone in order to say something like that as a joke, not just be a fan that getting way to personal.

[fiberaddict.livejournal.com]

Oh, my - the Star Wars as Icelandic Saga is so.....twisted and hilarious! I will be spending much time reading, I think....:lol:

[deadwoodmt.livejournal.com]

I cannot even tell you how excited I am about the Judge Dredd thing. I don't even know why, beyond the fact that I love Karl Urban so much. I mean, I couldn't even finish the original movie.

Favorite Ben and Jerry's Flavors

[cmdr-zoom.livejournal.com]

Strawberry Cheesecake
Mint Chocolate Cookie
Vanilla Heath Bar
Peach Cobbler

Gone but not forgotten:
Cool Britannia

Want to try:
Key Lime Pie

Re: Favorite Ben and Jerry's Flavors

[swordmage.livejournal.com]

The day that Vermonty Python returns will be one of much rejoicing...

[petite-dreamer.livejournal.com]

The repainted Tonners say they have "paint-enhanced breasts/chest" Whaaaaat.
Also, mani and pedi for dolls?

[nicolars.livejournal.com]

There are some doll collectors who like their dolls to look realistic in every way, if you know what I mean. I don't really get it myself.

[darkestnova.livejournal.com]

You don't know me, but I've enjoyed your blog ever since seeing it referenced in Twilight and Philosophy.

I just wanted to thank you for the information on BSC. (I wanted to back when you first posted about it, but I got distracted.) Most of my family went there, my grandfather taught there, and my granny still lives on campus. My earliest memories are of living in the married student housing, where the ecology garden is now. Even though I ended up going elsewhere, the college has a special place in my heart, and I was glad to find someone else who feels the same way I do.

Also, your reviews are endlessly entertaining.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Aw, thanks!

Yeah, I attended BSC in the late '90s/early '00s, and I loved that school. It was the first place where I felt like I actually belonged, as opposed to my football-obsessed grade school system. And it's where I met all of my longtime IRL friends. So... I get a little worked up about what they're doing there now.

[deepbluemermaid.livejournal.com]

Speaking for myself, but possibly many other readers too: we can get news/linkspam anywhere, so don't feel you have to apologise for not posting links daily or regularly. If possible Bigger Things are in the offing, then that's far more important and exciting.

Also: have you seen the new BBC Sherlock? I'd be really interested to hear your views, as a devotee of the ACD stories. I adore many aspects of the updated version, but have issues with some of the plotting thus far.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen it, no. Of course, I'm still desperately behind on True Blood, a show I have two seasons' investment in.

[hollyxu.livejournal.com]

Being one of those strange people who like spoilers, what happens on the last page of The Crimson Petal and the White? I also quite like Romola Garai, so I would watch the miniseries unless there's a terrible dealbreaker in there.

Good luck on writing!

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

It starts off with the writer/narrator, in this post-modern way, telling you that he's about to drop you into this story, into these people's lives. Okay, that's great. So 833 (EIGHT HUNDRED AND THIRTY-THREE) pages later, Sugar, the (kind of) heroine/prostitute/nanny, absconds with the (kind of) hero's daughter, and he's trying to find them, and he goes back to the other prostitute the book started off with, desperately trying to find Sugar, but she either can't or won't help him, and as he's tearing out of the flat, IIRC, he falls down some stairs and busts his ankle, and then the narrator's like, "But that's all of this story that I'm going to tell you. Thanks for going on this journey with me!"

FUCK YOU. I get that you're trying to be artsy and po-mo and comment on existence and subvert the reader's expectations and what-not but SERIOUSLY, FUCK YOU.

Short version: The problem with the book isn't the ending. It's that it doesn't HAVE an ending.

[sabra-n.livejournal.com]

ZOMG I've been looking forward to that Tempest for so long. *claws monitor* I need a bigger picture of that poster!

[allova.livejournal.com]

I thought the exact same thing about The Crimson Petal and the White. I was not pleased to have read over 800 pages to get to THAT ending. It was very unsatisfying.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

That "ending." That COMPLETELY NOT AN ENDING. Seriously, the EFFRONTERY of that non-ending.

[phantomess05.livejournal.com]

As a girl who read Scott Pilgrim and watched the movie and loved them both, I have to completely disagree with the review posted in the linkspam. I feel like he completely misinterpreted the relationships and lesson of the film, and it irritates me to no end that anyone would call it well reasoned... one of the comments to the article itself put it better than I can at the moment:

"I respectfully disagree with the reviewer's opinion. Scott is meant to be a slacker who takes advantage of people around him and has the memory of a goldfish because 20somethings often go through the same ordeal - we've treated people horribly and done awful crap we're ashamed of, yet through it all, we're still good people. Scott realizes what a dick he is over the course of the film, and finds his willingness to persevere over the emotional stepping stones of his girlfriend (the exes). He is also easily in danger of become another evil ex, and even Ramona says this. But just doing it for love isn't enough - in the final fight, he needs to make amends with his past and his dickishness to others to get the ability to help other people. He and Ramona basically find themselves taking the first steps to a REAL relationship at the very end of the film."

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Okay. What I have been told is that in the comic (I have neither read nor seen any of this is that Scott's a slacker/jerk, but that this changes/develops over the course of the series, and that Ramona and Knives are better developed; the movie takes the characters where they basically are at the beginning, whereas the comic starts them off there and comments on that and develops that.

it irritates me to no end that anyone would call it well reasoned

I'm going to try not to be insulted by this.

What I got out of the review was that one series is a fantasy of relationships for (some) girls, and the other is a fantasy of relationships for (some) guys, and that they are both, in their own ways, the fantasies of young, immature characters. His essential point, I thought, was that the appeal of these movies/series is about a certain kind of relationship wish fulfillment. It wasn't to use "Twilight" as a dirty word and smear Scott Pilgrim with it; it was to say that guys are capable of wanting a relationship-based wish fulfillment story as well.

[swordmage.livejournal.com]

I like Tempest, but seeing as it's a Taymor project? Well, that's even better.

The Star Wars as Saga is... brilliant...

[dragonsblog.livejournal.com]

That Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream is one of my favorites, and i usually prefer chocolate. So delicious. (Add chocolate syrup. It makes everything better.)

I know what you mean by writing, I am trying to practice writing again (after giving up for a while) and I was woken up the other night with An Idea. At 4am I'm sitting there full of thoughts and story bits. So now my mind is full of Ideas and I have no idea what do to with them.

[myfebruarysong.livejournal.com]

"since you've moved to Twitter"

I have gotten that before as well, and felt kinda bothered by it. When you're writing so much, the last thing you want to do is write a blog entry.

On the other hand, I've discovered if I blog before I write in the morning, there is less clutter to my thought process and I can actually focus more on my characters than other things.

[adaorardor.livejournal.com]

am I the only person who LOVES Crimson Petal and the White for being a shambling, "plot"-less wreck of delicious words?

BECAUSE I DO.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

I actually love the first 832 pages! Which may be why I hate that last one so much. I ACTUALLY CARED WHAT HAPPENED WITH SUGAR AND THE KID, FABER.

[kosher-jenny.livejournal.com]

That HuffPost reviewer isn't the only one making the Twilight/Pilgrim comparison! (http://www.movieline.com/2010/08/is-scott-pilgrim-vs-the-world-the-same-movie-as-twilight.php?page=all)

As far as Ben and Jerry's are concerned, Half Baked and Dublin Mudslide are my favorites. I didn't like the strawberry cheesecake one so much because, IIRC, it's cheesecake-flavored ice cream but there's no cheesecake bits in it, but they do have a flavor with bits of cheesecake brownies and it is pretty good. Now I want actual cheesecake

[kellyrfineman.livejournal.com]

the--victim, let's say--hanging over that woman's shoulder looks like a cat AND a child AND a goblin AND a serial killer, and he really only ought to look like two of those. Because no jury in the world would convict him if something "happened" to his owner. Even if cats got jury trials. What I'm saying is: that shit is so wrong

Preach it. Also, that photo will never, ever stop cracking me up.

[elbales]

Mirren!Tempest: WANT. Actually I saw an Oregon Shakespeare Festival production that switched genders for Prospero and Antonio, and it worked rather well in some respects.


Wasn't one Judge Dredd enough? Gah. I mean, I love Karl Urban to death, and he was really fun as Eomer, but Jebus he picks some bad movies to act in. Chronicles of Riddick, anyone? (Of course, let's be fair: he also joined the Bourne franchise and nailed the portrayal of Bones McCoy in ST.)


Oh, and seeing as you've been quiet because you're working, and the work is working if you know what I mean, it's all good. I was a little worried that you'd been quiet because things were an unending progression of suck, and it's good to hear that that's not the case.

Also, your Aromaleigh samples went into the mail yesterday. ^_^

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Aw, yay!

No, it's mostly that I've been working or doing things for my mother. The days seem to pass by really quickly.

[the_rainbow_jen]

So, if I really liked Scott Pilgrim, and generally dislike Twilight, does that make me a teenage boy?

[marlinkhylacat]

Haha, good question! I'm in the same boat. But then again, I've never been anything BUT a tomboy, so maybe my preference was to be expected? All I know is, the Twilight books/movies make me want to set the world on fire (though I love mocking the hell outta them), while Scott Pilgrim made me kinda want to see the world saved. If only so I can see more baddies turning into coins. XD

[txvoodoo.livejournal.com]

ILU anywhere. So there. *non-leaving flounce* ;)

[mysticowl.livejournal.com]

On one hand, I agree with Scott Mendelson that if you strip the core love triangle to its bare essentials, Scott Pilgrim and Twilight have a lot in common. But I don't think it was as bad as he says. I really had a blast watching it, I think it's great. Then again, I'm a Torontonian, so watching an entire movie where the characters who are supposed to be Torontonians actually pronounce Toronto correctly every time (while non-Torontonian characters say it the non-Torontonian way for contrast) is a thing that makes me happy.

[junebugged.livejournal.com]

This made me laugh, and then think of you:



Of course, I was also reminded of:



*g*

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Heeeee.