Saw the new Conan today. It was a good try, but not quite Conany enough for me. I don't feel like I wasted my money though. It wasn't as good as the first film but way the hell better then the second. Also, it was pretty gorey.
The former wife points out that Conan's childhood in this new movie is much more in line with Howard's character than the first one. She prefers this one to the original because of that and because it has a lot more action. She agrees that this one was way the hell better than the second.
At any rate, if you're a Conan fan, you're probably going to check it out anyway, so really, the only advice we can give to anyone is (even though we both liked Grace Jones), if you haven't seen the second one, don't ever do so.
Showing posts with label the former wife. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the former wife. Show all posts
Friday, August 19, 2011
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Spiraling!
As I twittered a little while ago, I saw the preview for the upcoming PBS series "We Shall Remain," five stories exploring the Native American experience since the Europeans hit the shores. It looks like a great show. Episode one talks about the Plymouth pilgrims and the Wampanoag, a sliver of whom live on in me. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/weshallremain/
I started The Terror by Dan Simmons today. I've heard him read bits of the book on a couple of different podcasts and it sounds like a fantastic story. I talked it up enough to get a coworker reading it, even before I cracked the book.
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Terror/Dan-Simmons/e/9780316008075/?itm=1
I don't know when I'll have time to read it, but I'm going to try to work it in. I'd like to say that my life seems to be spiraling out of control, but in fact it's always been like it is. It's always felt like it's spiraling out of control. I started today to try to get some exercise in, by walking the dog along a route that takes about an hour. That's good for catching up on podcasts too. But I've got writing to do, and I haven't been squeezing in more than a few notes for the past week. It's now past midnight, I have to get up in four and a half hours. I don't know how to make the most important things work.
We celebrated the former wife's birthday earlier. Cake, ice cream and a big bottle of Bailey's. She's been at her new place a little over a year now. Time truly flies.
I started The Terror by Dan Simmons today. I've heard him read bits of the book on a couple of different podcasts and it sounds like a fantastic story. I talked it up enough to get a coworker reading it, even before I cracked the book.
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Terror/Dan-Simmons/e/9780316008075/?itm=1
I don't know when I'll have time to read it, but I'm going to try to work it in. I'd like to say that my life seems to be spiraling out of control, but in fact it's always been like it is. It's always felt like it's spiraling out of control. I started today to try to get some exercise in, by walking the dog along a route that takes about an hour. That's good for catching up on podcasts too. But I've got writing to do, and I haven't been squeezing in more than a few notes for the past week. It's now past midnight, I have to get up in four and a half hours. I don't know how to make the most important things work.
We celebrated the former wife's birthday earlier. Cake, ice cream and a big bottle of Bailey's. She's been at her new place a little over a year now. Time truly flies.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Another Day Wasted
Let's see, what's been going on around here? Not much. Did a day of work. The former wife and the daughter saw Coraline in 3D. They weren't gushing about it, but they liked it well enough. The boy and the dog and I stuffed our faces with pasta and meatballs and garlic bread and dog food. Only the dog did that last one, other than that we were all on board. I read a bunch of crap on the internet and that brings us to now. Another day wasted.
I watched a few videos by this Haleybop lady. This song, I feel, stands above the rest.
I watched a few videos by this Haleybop lady. This song, I feel, stands above the rest.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
25 Random Facts About Me
Hey, you can do this too. If you don't want to, what am I going to do about it? I'm not your boss, your god or your mother. You will not be graded on this. If you do it, send me a link.
25 Random Facts About Me
1) The first erotic dream that I remember happened when I was 4 or 5 years old. Ruth Buzzi was sitting on my toilet in her underwear. That was all the eroticism of which my young mind could conceive.
2) I became an atheist suddenly in class at fourteen years old when I read that Neanderthals buried tools and objects with their dead. It was a revelation not necessarily based on logic.
3) When one of my dogs dies I'm very upset for about an hour. Then I mostly forget about them for the rest of my life.
4) As a child, I was convinced that I could become the Earth-Prime Batman.
5) I swing my arms around in the shower in case there are invisible people in there with me.
6) (Are you still reading this? Seriously?) My favorite food is the cheeseburger, which explains the shape I'm in.
7) I've had two hernia surgeries.
8) My former wife and partner of 20 years is black. Before I met her I had known maybe three black people in my entire life.
9) I was a hardcore Reagan Republican as a teenager. Now I lean Libertarian but Socialism doesn't seem like the worst thing in the world.
10) I count myself very lucky to have a wonderful mother-in-law. I've heard some real horror stories from other people.
11) The worst hangover I've ever had was worse than my two hernia surgeries. It followed a night of rum and Cokes and lasted about fourteen hours.
12) I wanted adventure as a kid. When I became a parent, I wanted no part of adventure.
13) Although happiness is nice, I see it as ephemeral. Instead, I'm shooting for fulfillment.
14) From about the time of the Big Bang until about 1969, I didn't really do much. Total slacker for, like, fourteen billion years.
15) Aaron Neville is my arch-enemy.
16) I was out on my own at eighteen. My minimum wage jobs worked better than any diet. I had to buy new pants because I was swimming in my old ones. Then I lost more weight and couldn't afford to buy any more pants, so I'd buy pints of ice cream and frosting and eat them from the containers just to keep some fat on my waist.
17) My nose runs like a leaky faucet. Always has.
18) I am not a people person. Except during job interviews.
19) Aaron Neville could beat me senseless if he knew I existed. Have you seen those arms? And besides, he has four brothers. That's ten Neville legs kicking my ass while they sing a song about it.
20) I was laid off at nineteen and moved to Florida to stay with my parents. I've been there ever since. (In Florida, that is. Not with my parents.)
21) When I was ten my blood would turn to ice whenever I heard a plane overhead. I was waiting for a hydrogen bomb to drop on my head. Because, of course, Plainfield, Connecticut was number one on the Soviets' list of targets.
22) I am at once a slob and a germophobe.
23) I think writing is one of the most powerful technologies we have ever devised. Little marks on paper or a screen can produce images and concepts in someone else's mind, thousands of miles away. We can listen to the dead. We can speak to the not-yet-born. We can make a solid thing of our memories. Nearly anyone can be taught to use it. It can move armies and elicit emotions in a person when no action has taken place.
24) When I was a teenager, my friends and I used to joke that I would be killed by a bus at the age of thirty-eight. For the year between my thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth birthdays, I was worried that my id would win out for just a second and I would step out into the path of an oncoming bus in order to fulfill the prophecy. Now I believe I am invulnerable.
25) I have never had sex with a white woman, though I might make an exception for Ruth Buzzi.
25 Random Facts About Me
1) The first erotic dream that I remember happened when I was 4 or 5 years old. Ruth Buzzi was sitting on my toilet in her underwear. That was all the eroticism of which my young mind could conceive.
2) I became an atheist suddenly in class at fourteen years old when I read that Neanderthals buried tools and objects with their dead. It was a revelation not necessarily based on logic.
3) When one of my dogs dies I'm very upset for about an hour. Then I mostly forget about them for the rest of my life.
4) As a child, I was convinced that I could become the Earth-Prime Batman.
5) I swing my arms around in the shower in case there are invisible people in there with me.
6) (Are you still reading this? Seriously?) My favorite food is the cheeseburger, which explains the shape I'm in.
7) I've had two hernia surgeries.
8) My former wife and partner of 20 years is black. Before I met her I had known maybe three black people in my entire life.
9) I was a hardcore Reagan Republican as a teenager. Now I lean Libertarian but Socialism doesn't seem like the worst thing in the world.
10) I count myself very lucky to have a wonderful mother-in-law. I've heard some real horror stories from other people.
11) The worst hangover I've ever had was worse than my two hernia surgeries. It followed a night of rum and Cokes and lasted about fourteen hours.
12) I wanted adventure as a kid. When I became a parent, I wanted no part of adventure.
13) Although happiness is nice, I see it as ephemeral. Instead, I'm shooting for fulfillment.
14) From about the time of the Big Bang until about 1969, I didn't really do much. Total slacker for, like, fourteen billion years.
15) Aaron Neville is my arch-enemy.
16) I was out on my own at eighteen. My minimum wage jobs worked better than any diet. I had to buy new pants because I was swimming in my old ones. Then I lost more weight and couldn't afford to buy any more pants, so I'd buy pints of ice cream and frosting and eat them from the containers just to keep some fat on my waist.
17) My nose runs like a leaky faucet. Always has.
18) I am not a people person. Except during job interviews.
19) Aaron Neville could beat me senseless if he knew I existed. Have you seen those arms? And besides, he has four brothers. That's ten Neville legs kicking my ass while they sing a song about it.
20) I was laid off at nineteen and moved to Florida to stay with my parents. I've been there ever since. (In Florida, that is. Not with my parents.)
21) When I was ten my blood would turn to ice whenever I heard a plane overhead. I was waiting for a hydrogen bomb to drop on my head. Because, of course, Plainfield, Connecticut was number one on the Soviets' list of targets.
22) I am at once a slob and a germophobe.
23) I think writing is one of the most powerful technologies we have ever devised. Little marks on paper or a screen can produce images and concepts in someone else's mind, thousands of miles away. We can listen to the dead. We can speak to the not-yet-born. We can make a solid thing of our memories. Nearly anyone can be taught to use it. It can move armies and elicit emotions in a person when no action has taken place.
24) When I was a teenager, my friends and I used to joke that I would be killed by a bus at the age of thirty-eight. For the year between my thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth birthdays, I was worried that my id would win out for just a second and I would step out into the path of an oncoming bus in order to fulfill the prophecy. Now I believe I am invulnerable.
25) I have never had sex with a white woman, though I might make an exception for Ruth Buzzi.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Son-Of-A-Who-Cut-Your-Naval-String!
Loads of random shit (literally) and colons (but not the shitty kind):
The former wife, my daughter and I took their pug for a walk today. You wouldn't believe how much poo can be kept inside of a dog that small. It was like Christmas day with a new Play-Doh Fun Factory.
Today io9 has this headline:
You'll Never Guess Which Mutant Plays A Key Role In Wolverine!
I'm going to say . . . um . . . Wolverine?
I took the daughter to the library today and grabbed A Clockwork Orange for myself. Saw the movie when I was a teen, but never read the book. I just read a few pages into it at the library. I'd often heard about the language thing, but didn't realize it was so thick. This might require a second read. Here's something embarrassing: When I read William Golding's The Inheritors, large chunks of it went right over my head even though the language is quite simple. It's told from the point of view of one of the slowest of a small group of Neanderthals as they encounter their first Cro-Magnons. It's a hell of a time to figure out what the protagonist is seeing as he describes technology beyond his ken using his limited vocabulary. He sees boats as trees and oars as leaves and so on. That's a second-reader to be sure, but I haven't yet jumped into its second reading.
Just a reminder: This is the last chance you'll have to read this sentence for the first time. See. Told you. Next time you'll listen to me.
Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book won the Newbery Award today. Son-of-a-who-cut-your-naval-string! (That's a Trinidadian expression, of course. You people need to get out more.) Congrats to him!
Truth in advertising: The Hanes Beefy-T should really be called the Hanes Fatty-T. And by the way, if it really was the Beefy-T, these would not be the models for it. I mean, one guy is actually dressed like Gilligan. Nobody thinks, "Look at that Gilligan. God, but he's beefy!"
And I'm spent.
The former wife, my daughter and I took their pug for a walk today. You wouldn't believe how much poo can be kept inside of a dog that small. It was like Christmas day with a new Play-Doh Fun Factory.
Today io9 has this headline:
You'll Never Guess Which Mutant Plays A Key Role In Wolverine!
I'm going to say . . . um . . . Wolverine?
I took the daughter to the library today and grabbed A Clockwork Orange for myself. Saw the movie when I was a teen, but never read the book. I just read a few pages into it at the library. I'd often heard about the language thing, but didn't realize it was so thick. This might require a second read. Here's something embarrassing: When I read William Golding's The Inheritors, large chunks of it went right over my head even though the language is quite simple. It's told from the point of view of one of the slowest of a small group of Neanderthals as they encounter their first Cro-Magnons. It's a hell of a time to figure out what the protagonist is seeing as he describes technology beyond his ken using his limited vocabulary. He sees boats as trees and oars as leaves and so on. That's a second-reader to be sure, but I haven't yet jumped into its second reading.
Just a reminder: This is the last chance you'll have to read this sentence for the first time. See. Told you. Next time you'll listen to me.
Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book won the Newbery Award today. Son-of-a-who-cut-your-naval-string! (That's a Trinidadian expression, of course. You people need to get out more.) Congrats to him!
Truth in advertising: The Hanes Beefy-T should really be called the Hanes Fatty-T. And by the way, if it really was the Beefy-T, these would not be the models for it. I mean, one guy is actually dressed like Gilligan. Nobody thinks, "Look at that Gilligan. God, but he's beefy!"
And I'm spent.
Friday, January 16, 2009
I Am Not A Man! I Am A Blog Post!
Read this today in my daily A.Word.A.Day e-mail:
Gotta love that Anu Garg.
Here's the Sofa stuff this week, haven't mentioned that yet:
This week StarShipSofa is pleased to present Aural Delights No. 59. Blast off!
www.starshipsofa.com
But I never really sat down and watched the show. You know what would be cool? Many years ago the Sci Fi Channel ran a Prisoner marathon and Harlan Ellison, who loved the series, did intros for each episode. It would be cool to see those. If anyone knows if those are available, let me know. It's not that In Search of The Prisoner documentary on YouTube either.
The former wife is feeling much better, by the by. She expects to be feeling shockingly nifty by Monday. This, I think, is all that I have to say for right now. Bye.
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
A time will come when a politician who has wilfully made war and promoted international dissension will be as sure of the dock and much surer of the noose than a private homicide. It is not reasonable that those who gamble with men's lives should not stake their own. -H.G. Wells, writer (1866-1946)Gotta love that Anu Garg.
Here's the Sofa stuff this week, haven't mentioned that yet:
Editorial: Tony C Smith
Poem: As If We Could Change Anything by G O Clark
Flash: Jonathon by Church H Tucker
Film Talk: Rod Barnett
Main Fiction: In The Sunken Museum by Gregory Frost
New Titles: Tony C Smith
Serial Part 3 of 3: Temptation by David Brin Contrary Brin
Narrators: Julie Davis, Gregory Frost, Z
This podcast is brought to you by Audible.com. Download a free audiobook of your choice today at audiblepodcast.com/sofawww.starshipsofa.com
************************
What else is going on? I've been thinking about watching The Prisoner on AMC. Oh, sure, you say, now that McGoohan's dead. Well, yeah, between people talking about that and AMC doing the new version and everybody pointing to AMC's site, like I just did, I'm thinking about it. I never watched it before. I mean, I've seen scenes as my wife was watching it, I know the set-up, I know the music, I even know the Iron Maiden song:
The Prisoner - Iron Maiden
The Prisoner - Iron Maiden
But I never really sat down and watched the show. You know what would be cool? Many years ago the Sci Fi Channel ran a Prisoner marathon and Harlan Ellison, who loved the series, did intros for each episode. It would be cool to see those. If anyone knows if those are available, let me know. It's not that In Search of The Prisoner documentary on YouTube either.
The former wife is feeling much better, by the by. She expects to be feeling shockingly nifty by Monday. This, I think, is all that I have to say for right now. Bye.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
aacalend: The Most Boring Post Of All!
I planned to blog last night but hit the hay early instead. I'm catching up on my sleep and that's good. Because of that I'm feeling better though still sick with a strong cough. The former wife went to the doctor yesterday. The doctor looked down her throat and actually said "Eww!" That's not a good sign. Her tonsils are infected. Swallowing anything other than cold water has been agonizing for her. Fortunately, one day into the antibiotics and she can feel improvement.
Last night I updated my story log, tracking which stories of mine are at which magazines. I really should do this as soon as I get new info but I've been a bit slacky lately. Then I sent out a friendly reminder to someone who needs to get back to me on one story and withdrew another story from a mag that never got back to me even after a reminder. I usually give a mag four months before querying on a submission, unless their guidelines suggest otherwise, or it's The New Yorker. I give another month and a half and if I haven't heard anything by that point, I withdraw my story. Of course, the two editors I wrote to last night told me in November they'd get back to me ASAP after getting my first query. I have reason to believe there could have been an e-mail problem with the first so I sent another query. I'm sure all of this fascinates you.
I use some version of Quattro Pro from 1998 to track my stories. I often used a WordPerfect from the same era to write my stories before I got a MacBook. Anywho . . . The file is called aacalend because I first created it back in 1991 on a Packard Bell (1 MB hard drive! No, really!) with MS Works and it would only allow for file names of up to eight characters. I wanted to call it calendar, but I also wanted it to pop up on the very top of my list of files so I stuck the aa on the front. I stuck with the name as it jumped from computer to computer. Now I back it up on Google Documents and it's still called aacalend there.
This is how I set it up: I made fields called TITLE, MARKET, DATE SENT, EDITOR, DATE RETURNED (rejected), DATE ACCEPTED, DATE PUBLISHED, PAYMENT and COMMENTS. This way, I always know where a story is, and I won't make the mistake of sending it to the same place twice. I have three pages on my spreadsheet. I sort the first by DATE RETURNED, so I can look at the bottom of the page and see everything that's out at the moment. I sort the second by TITLE so when I want to send out a story, I can quickly see where it's already been. I sort the third by MARKET so I can quickly see if I have another story at the magazine where I'm thinking about sending my current story.
That's about it. Any questions, class?
Class?
Last night I updated my story log, tracking which stories of mine are at which magazines. I really should do this as soon as I get new info but I've been a bit slacky lately. Then I sent out a friendly reminder to someone who needs to get back to me on one story and withdrew another story from a mag that never got back to me even after a reminder. I usually give a mag four months before querying on a submission, unless their guidelines suggest otherwise, or it's The New Yorker. I give another month and a half and if I haven't heard anything by that point, I withdraw my story. Of course, the two editors I wrote to last night told me in November they'd get back to me ASAP after getting my first query. I have reason to believe there could have been an e-mail problem with the first so I sent another query. I'm sure all of this fascinates you.
I use some version of Quattro Pro from 1998 to track my stories. I often used a WordPerfect from the same era to write my stories before I got a MacBook. Anywho . . . The file is called aacalend because I first created it back in 1991 on a Packard Bell (1 MB hard drive! No, really!) with MS Works and it would only allow for file names of up to eight characters. I wanted to call it calendar, but I also wanted it to pop up on the very top of my list of files so I stuck the aa on the front. I stuck with the name as it jumped from computer to computer. Now I back it up on Google Documents and it's still called aacalend there.
This is how I set it up: I made fields called TITLE, MARKET, DATE SENT, EDITOR, DATE RETURNED (rejected), DATE ACCEPTED, DATE PUBLISHED, PAYMENT and COMMENTS. This way, I always know where a story is, and I won't make the mistake of sending it to the same place twice. I have three pages on my spreadsheet. I sort the first by DATE RETURNED, so I can look at the bottom of the page and see everything that's out at the moment. I sort the second by TITLE so when I want to send out a story, I can quickly see where it's already been. I sort the third by MARKET so I can quickly see if I have another story at the magazine where I'm thinking about sending my current story.
That's about it. Any questions, class?
Class?
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Bubba Ho-Tep
The job really gets in the way of real life. Stupid money!
I've got to get on the stick and start reading, reading, reading for the next Fiction Crawler. There's one in the hopper already, I mean the one after that. I've got writing to do, clothes and dishes to wash, a bathroom to clean . . . Let me just stop saying things so I don't depress myself.
Not much here. Dog turned ten today. The family had a mini-party for her. Not the sort of thing we usually do, but ten is pretty good for a dog. I don't think I ever had a dog that lived that long, or that I've owned that long.
Saw Bubba Ho-Tep today. The movie rocks! It is just fucked-up crazy. I didn't know it was rated R when I rented it. I brought it over to the former wife's house and said, "Hey everyone, we have to check out this film!" The first three lines of dialogue were so foul my teenagers actually left the room, and we're not exactly born-agains. The former wife loves Bruce Campbell and the two of us loved the film. It's based on a Joe R. Lansdale story. Check it out.
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
I Am Officially Damaged Goods
The divorce was finalized today. I want to make it a point to refer to Bianca as my former wife rather than ex-wife. I feel 'ex' can have some unpleasant and hateful connotations about it. What we've got now is far from unpleasant and hateful. We get along much better now than we did when we were living together. The whole family gets along better. There's some bittersweetness there, of course. Just the idea of breaking up the marriage and the family and such will cause that. But I'm hopeful for the future. I think the separation and the divorce was in everyone's best long term interest. We still love each other and now we can support each other in our new and different directions rather than each pulling the reluctant other our way. So that's that. For the statisticians we met each other twenty years ago last month, began dating a few months after that, bought a house seventeen and a half years ago and married about two years after that.
The future will be interesting. If you live long enough all sorts of crazy things can occur. I'll let you know.
The future will be interesting. If you live long enough all sorts of crazy things can occur. I'll let you know.
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