we nervously chew up our pencils until our teeth are stained with lead [10 Oct 2008|02:42am] aearonlinn [ music | Louis XIV ] Another poll for things I cannot decide. So I've been worldbuilding lately, this time in a strange and new epic fantasy mode to which I'm not really accustomed. I'm of course basing some of the languages from random countries-- which generally have nothing to do with the culture of the given fantasy country, but that's neither here nor there. Anyhow, one of them has a kind of Spanish feel, the country from which a character I've had laying around for some years now is supposed to come. His last name didn't really translate into the feeling I had though, so I looked around for Spanish names that had a similar feeling... And the one that returned the awesomest match has a diacritic. As in, Galván. And I really don't want to add in like eight thousand vowels ala Tolkien just to get it to sound right when you say it out loud all Anglo-romanized. I mean, I don't think about diacritics. They're common in every language I've ever studied except, you know, this one I'm writing in now. But in theory I'm writing this for an English speaking population (possibly not native, but you know, mostly, they would be, on the random fucking off chance it ever saw the light of day)-- and I know that sometimes that kind of thing in a fantasy novel comes off as, not to put too fine a point on it, pretentious as fuck and rather childish. So I put this question to all of you, as it will shape the next little map I draw in many ways: Poll #2446 The Diacritic Question Open to: All, results viewable to: All How irritating are diacritic marks in names in high/epic fantasy novels? View Answers I don't notice them 1 (16.7%) No more than they are in real languages, dumbass 0 (0.0%) Kind of speedbumpy, but okay 2 (33.3%) Helpful and true-to-life when it comes to languages in general 1 (16.7%) They make me want to stab the author with a Spoon of Anti-Pretension +25 2 (33.3%) (And just in case, let me say that I wouldn't use it often anyhow-- in a case like Galvan though, most English-speakers would but the stress on the first syllable, which would be a completely different name and not sound right.) 15 comments|post comment

[02 Oct 2008|10:42pm] aearonlinn Allow me to be political for about five seconds. I have something to say about the vice presidential debate. And that is: Hee! Did anyone else think that was actually Tina Fey? That woman's impression is AWESOME! Seriously, she doesn't just look like her, she's perfectly dead on in every way! What? That's not political? But... I like Tina Fey! 5 comments|post comment

you know I believe and how [01 Oct 2008|06:17pm] aearonlinn American folk who pre-ordered Voices: I talked to The Man at Morrigan Books today-- the UK crowd already has theirs because it was pre-released there while he was doing stuff for other Morrigan releases. (I'm so getting The Even. It looks brilliant.) The Aussies get the official release in a few days, but the North American version isn't printed yet-- they're working on a deal for it now. Shouldn't be too long, but if you're wondering why some people have it and you don't, that's the story. It's coming! American folk who have not pre-ordered Voices: I want you to know that every time you FAIL to pre-order this book, god kills a kitten. I hope you're fucking happy. I kid, it's horror, it's definitely not for everyone. Seriously, I'm just excited to see it. I really want to know what the other stories are like, but I'm not convinced I'll believe the one I wrote is really mine when I see it there with them. 2 comments|post comment

at people who I'd much rather kick in the eye [30 Sep 2008|10:58am] aearonlinn [ music | The Smiths - The Boy With The Thorn In His Side ] Well, it wasn't pretty, but the Steelers prevailed over the Ravens, so I don't have to spend today being sulky. Because if there is one team I really, really can't stand to lose to, it's Baltimore. (Although my husband points out that Ray Lewis hasn't murdered anyone in a few years. Good for you, Baltimore, keeping your murderous drug dealing players on a short leash! That's the first step on the road to recovery!) It's truly humiliating. I'd rather lose to Cleveland. And if you know Pittsburgh, you know that's saying a lot. Still we beat them both. AFC NORTH MOTHERFUCKERS! (Bengals, Browns, Ravens, Steelers. Come on, if we don't wrap that up we don't deserve it. See how I say "we", like I'm on the field? Yep, I'm lame.) And I have what look to be very decent Oasis tickets as of an hour ago, because they went on pre-sale for the North American tour at 10am for people signed up at the website. They're actually coming to DC woo! (Fairfax actually, which is even better because it's really close to me.) I got concourse seating because floor seats are always a pain in the ass for short people, and I had my share of fighting at V Fest. I was close once. I'm cool. I just wanna be able to see. Oh, and I'd also like to put in a request to the universe: Please don't let anyone get tackled this time. Especially Noel though. Liam's still kind of tough. Noel looks like he weighs about 90 lbs and took a week to recover from that last one. I was hoping to crash on Keli in MN (and visit Megh!) and see them there too, but the tour is in December, which is right before I have to go to India and will be trying to save money. So that's probably not happening. Anyhow, I want to go there in the summer, not the winter. I'm a southern girl, dammit. (Er... a mid-atlantic girl really. But still. MN in the winter would surely be the death of me.) So I'll probably invite myself up there around that time, depending on when we're supposed to be in Shanghai and Brussels. Delhi is apparently in a sad state of affairs right now, but we got our tickets anyhow. Flying through Heathrow this time on BA, which makes me happy because going through Frankfurt on Lufthansa last time was god awful. (Okay, it was god awful on the way back because Bala had malaria and was fevered and sick as fuck, passed out on the seats in the waiting area and paying like 5 euros for a tiny cup of orange juice. But still.) I'm pretty sure this won't be any better, but I'm going to pretend so I can make myself get on the plane-- because my god, that flight is shit. DC-London-Delhi, then a week later to Chennai (Madras). then Chennai-London-DC a week after that. I probably won't be able to do much by myself in Delhi just because there's a lot of tourist kidnapping and bombing going on (aww, it'll be like Kathmandu the second time, but bigger and scarier!), but I might be able to set some things up with tour groups. Normally I hate them, but in climates like that it's best to go with a group that's already hired someone to pay off the terrorists/police (very often the same thing there, I've found). And then Bharat and Aparna will come for a few days and hang with me, and maybe I'll get to go to Agra and do the cheesy Taj Mahal thing. Still wanna go to Bihar, because I'd love to see Bodh Gaya and all that good Buddhist stuff, but it's really not plausible right now. Too bad, that. My mother-in-law is already making plans to take me to this really old library in Madras and hang out. They apparently have lots of palm manuscripts and the like-- it's colonial originally and I guess newly renovated. Sounds like heaven. I'm her favorite daughter-in-law because I read a lot, and it probably doesn't hurt that I write. And don't live with her :D So I have that and Mamallapuram to look forward to down south. That's shaping up nicely! I need to remember to get more pictures in Madras this time-- I hardly have any from last time, and it's a really good looking city. ALSO: Nick is coming for his birthday and most of the week after! (middle of October.) Fun! So yeah, yesterday was a ranty day. Looks like today won't be so much! 9 comments|post comment

My head's in the clouds but at least I'm trying [29 Sep 2008|03:50pm] aearonlinn Man. I was just watching Anthony Bourdain (ah the joys of not doing anything, once again) and realized that I haven't eaten meat in like 12-11 years or something. I don't know the exact date anymore, I just know I stopped eating red meat around fifteen, and at the end of sixteen-beginning of seventeen I had my last meat, which was a shrimp at a dinner party that I immediately felt like puking back up again. That's generally a sign that you don't like meat. (Or at least shrimp. But I'd gone off chicken before that even, so you know. It was pretty obvious.) I try not to talk about this because vegetarians come off as dicks, but you know what? I'm not, at least not about that. It's my fucking journal and I'm a fucking vegetarian. (I also like the word "fuck"!) ( Don't click this if you're squeamish about dead stuff or plan to be a dick about me being a vegetarian ) And don't start on me about how YOU know where meat comes from and YOU would never be upset. I know most people wouldn't. But most vegetarians don't preach and piss me off, either. I'm not talking about most. I'm talking about stupid people. You're not stupid. Well, not more than me, anyhow, I'm sure. Argh. This gets a Dexter icon, because the Dexter opening? That's my world! ARGH! 19 comments|post comment

I didn't realize that you wrote such really awful poetry [29 Sep 2008|01:07pm] aearonlinn [ music | ... I'd think it would be obvious ] I haven't watched an Oasis video since I was like 17 I think-- their videos have always sucked (though the Champagne Supernova video was good. Hey, I was 16 and it was Liam Gallagher collapsed on a bed. Life was easy back then.) But I just got The Shock of the Lightning video with my purchase of the single, and it's particularly bad. Not All Around the World bad, but bad. It's Liam trying to look like John Lennon (nothing new) in old skool psychedelic photo style covered over with lots of cut out phallic, military, and apocalyptic imagery. I'm so disturbed. It's an okay tune though, catchy. I'd only heard it twice before, and then live last month. I like the production because he actually sounds like he does live, like he used to on the old recordings. Also, while I'm on the subject of music, I'm looking at various interpretations of the Smiths' Cemetry Gates (Yes, that's how it's spelled, goddammit, even if it WAS a mistake -- lyrics here) just to kind of help an idea I'm sort of rolling around in my head, and it's boggling my mind. I really should've known better than to read anything written by Smiths fans, because that's the fastest way to turn a good song into a mishmash of ill-conceived self-insertion. Keats and Yeats are on your side But weird lover Wilde is on mine ( Cut for way too much talk about Morrissey, which scares me a little, but can't be helped ) Morrissey is an intolerable fucker, don't get me wrong. (And he's perpetually a quarter-step flat, I swear.) But I do love The Smiths. Let's not make it more complicated than it has to be. Next you'll be telling me that Meat is Murder is a song about fucking Pol Pot. Let me make it quick for you guys: HE'S A FUCKING VEGETARIAN. Sorry about that. Either way, this is why I like bands with stupid lyrics, in general. I don't have to be annoyed with people who don't know what they're talking about. Oh yeah man, Noel Gallagher wrote Supersonic about a teenage prostitute called Elsa who worked for cocaine. No. There was a fucking dog in the studio called Elsa, and he liked the name. "She done it with a doctor/on a helicopter" "She's sniffing in a tissue/selling the Big Issue"? They fucking RHYME. Christ. See what happens when I try not to write for a month? It's been three days and I'm already trying to find something to which I can apply my atrophied academic nonsense. 2 comments|post comment

the kids all dream of making it (whatever that means) [27 Sep 2008|04:17pm] aearonlinn Tired, more later. But for now: I just saw Neil Gaiman! Like real and in person and reading and talking to... well a large crowd of which I was a part! Yay! *dance* The only bad part was that they had three-day-early copies of The Graveyard Book and I missed the last one selling by like 10 minutes. Pfffft! Hey, three days. I'll survive. :D 6 comments|post comment

navigation [ viewing | most recent entries ]