Tomato Soup

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Saturday, May 31, 2003

This may be my last blog entry before I leave for camp.
Although I really hope not.

I've got that sense of impending doom that I think comes from a) knowing that I should really be packing right now and b) coming to terms with all of the things I am not actually going to accomplish before I leave. I have transition anxiety, as always.

If you're a fan of The Princess Bride, you should check out the official site for the book. (If you're not a fan, you should go buy it or check it out and read it, because it is an absolute delight. The first chapter is available at that site, too.) You remember the part where Goldman claims that if you send a letter to his publisher, they will send you a copy of the fabled "Reunion Scene"? Well, now you can send for it online. Try it—it's a blast. :)

Aside from the ones mentioned on the site, I entered Nerdanel (you remember Nerdanel, right?) at contests here and here. That second one starts voting June 19, I believe. If you love me, you will vote! (Pick the entry that you think is the best, of course, just as long as you vote!)



I finished this doll this morning. I actually started her a long time ago (okay, a week or two ago) but I kind of gave up because the costume wasn't working. I still don't think it really works but it's better than my last Jaranai design, partly because the doll is bigger so you can see the mask more clearly. If I ignore the effect I was going for, Lyranne (that's her Jaranai name, not her "real" name) looks pretty good with her bright primary colors.

The Jaranai are sort of superhero-like figures, except that what they do actually does make sense when you know the history. The original Jaranai were a sort of inner council of an ancient Sorceress-Queen. Once she found the perfect balance of abilities, personalities, and powers, the Queen was said to have performed some long-forgotten ritual that bound together them together for all time. Most of the power of the royal bloodline went into the bond, which enhanced their individual abilities and enabled them to achieve even greater levels of power as a group.

But more importantly, the bond thus formed would not vanish with the deaths of the original team, but survive, through their children and direct descendents, and sometimes, when the circumstances were right, it would awaken.

A thousand years before our story begins, war swept the North Continent and the great Alliance of Seven Kingdoms was formed. The Jaranai were supposedly involved in that (and in seeing it to a victorious conclusion), but no one really believes those stories anymore...or at least, if they did once exist, that was a long time ago...

The costume is supposed to suggest something that might have been fairly normal clothing for the original Jaranai, but I always forget that when I'm trying to design it (next time...there's always next time...). The masks I believe were not original but rather they came into the tradition later, at a time when for various political reasons it became necessary for some of the Jaranai to conceal their identities. In and of itself it clearly doesn't do much, but it's actually the physical representation of a spell that makes it impossible to recognize the person behind the mask. I think the tradition of taking special names started at the same time—probably the first "Jaranai names" were actually the real names of people who had to go undercover in their regular lives.

The story with the Jaranai and the Sa'rashi in it is one of the ones that I could theoretically work on writing this summer...what do you think?
Sarah - 7:36 PM - 0 comment(s)

Friday, May 30, 2003

I'm so happy with Mir.
She noticed the alt text for my last Sa'rashi doll and actually asked what it said. ::sniff::

This next doll took an inordinate amount of time. First, I had to come up with a dress design that was not only different but also clearly a different style, since it is supposed to be representative of an earlier generation. Second, I tried to make her hai look like it could actually be "golden blonde" and not just "yellow"...I'm not sure how well I succeeded at that. Third, the skin color of the base that I used was just plain wrong—you know how some people just shouldn't dye their hair blonde? It was like that.

Kat'yana Ra'shari (the apostrophes are not spurious—more later) is the only natural blonde in her generation. Most Sa'rashi are dark-haired but there's been enough mixing with the North Kingdoms to insert a little bit more variety. Kat'ya is the most talented lady assassin/agent (the word is jaita and implies more sophistication than just "asassin") of her generation (which is the one preceding Lorai's). She carries the somewhat dubious distinction of being one of the only significant characters in any of my stories to actually die and stay dead, mostly because she came into existence as the deceased mother of a couple of characters and so much of the story is built around her death that I can't weasel my way out.

In this depiction I think she's only about 15 or 16, which is when the queen dies and Kat'ya catches the eye of Dar'yan, the king, who needs a couple of extra children. In total he (or rather, his wife) is expected to produce three offspring: the first-born prince is the heir, the second-born prince is sort of the back-up and is also expected to be responsible for the defense of Sha'sanara (the city/palace compound), and there's supposed to be a back-up up princess in case both of the princes manage to kill each oth—I mean, get killed.

Kat'ya is a rather unusual person among the Sa'rashi and she is actually the driving force behind most of the plot.

Anyway. I promised to get to the apostrophes. A lot of times people will use apostrophes to make names look foreign or alien without actually having them serve any purpose. I assure you that my apostrophes are not so poorly planned. They are a spelling convention, based on converting the old Sa'rashi alphabet to the "modern" letters in use elsewhere in the world, and they signify division of syllables where confusion might arise.

Example: Sa'rashi is pronounced "Sah-RAH-shee", not "Sar-AH-shee" or "Sar-RAH-shee" as would be the case if it were spelled without the apostrophe. Kat'yana is "KAHT-yah-nah" (except the "ah" on the last syllable is softened to more of an "uh" by the influence of the Northern languages where such name-endings are common). Katya would actually be pronounced "KAH-cha" because "ty" is pronounced like "ch". The original alphabet would have had a separate letter for "ty" and "t'y" would be spelled with two letters.
Sarah - 3:43 PM - 0 comment(s)

I need coffee.
But I'm not going to get any coffee because it is after midnight and there is just no way I am going to go downstairs and boil some water on the stove. (We don't have any instant decaf anyway and I do intend to get some sleep shortly.)

Last night was the Forest Admin Chat of DOOM. It reminded me oddly of our old roleplaying sessions back in high school when I was GM and I had to kind of drag everyone through it but apparently they all enjoyed it because they kept coming back... We do, at least, have something resembling a Plan. Some adventures are going to have to go on hiatus but everybody should be able to have at least one adventure going at once.

Then I had to get up at the crack of dawn (i.e. 7:30 a.m.) to make my 9:00 dentist's appointment for which I was only five minutes late. I don't think I was blogging yet back when the bottom half of one of my front right teeth fell off. Today the dentist started to "fix" it (which involves crowns, i.e. fake teeth). I have temps in right now and I've got to go in two weeks from Saturday morning. (Hey, at least that means I'm sure to be home that weekend...so probably I'll get to blog then.)

The whole procedure involved two shots, some nitrous oxide, and a surprising amount of blood. I'm not sure where the blood came in and I did not ask. The nitrous oxide was a complete bust. It was just supposed to be enough to help me to relax. It did not accomplish its objective; it just made me feel kind of lethargic and sort of weird physically without actually alleviating the mental tension so really there was no point and I made them take it off. I did get some reading done, but I'll probably never be able to read The Last Camel Died at Noon again without thinking of those horrid goopy molds they make of your mouth (the ones that feature prominently in my orthodontic nightmares). Oh, and yes, I have stopped updating on my Elizabeth Peters reading progress. I forget.

And so after paying the $756.50 co-pay (gosh I hope my parents reimburse me for that) I drove to my mother's school to visit her class an hour and a half late. I did finally get her lunch to her and I showed them my knitting stuff and taught them "group juggling" long enough for her to eat it. And then there was much packing and I managed to take off with three boxes of supplies in the back of the car (to take to camp).

In addition to the dust in my mother's room, there was the dust in my room, particularly my closet, which is now clean. (Er...my other closet. There are two. Yes, it's weird. One of them is the game closet. Lots of board games. Dusty.) That closet has not been clean since we moved here something like seven years ago. Dust...my throat is scratchy from allergies and also I think from sitting with my mouth open for three hours, and I haven't got any coffee to drink because I'm too tired to boil water and we don't have any instant decaf, anyway.
Sarah - 12:00 AM - 0 comment(s)

Wednesday, May 28, 2003

Designing Sa'rashi gowns is hard.
Because, as I think I have mentioned before, the simplicity of the design is a requirement. Sa'rashi ladies, when dressed for a formal social occasion (which, oddly enough, they seem to have fairly often), wear form-fitting gowns slit to the hip so that it is easy to see that they are not hiding any weapons.

Sa'rashi society, you see, is very structured. The aristocrats are the "working" Sa'rashi—it's an artistocracy of talent, so to s, peak. They are mostly spies and information gatherers, but women usually only get far as assassins, which explains why they might be a bit wary of weaponry at social gatherings. (Actually, it's more symbolic than anything because I assure you that any Sa'rashi assassin does not require actual weapons of any sort.) Even the chain in her hair is very delicate and would break if pressure were applied.

Anyway, in the rest of the world (at least the North Kingdoms), this would be considered somewhat shocking attire. Full skirts and low-cut bodices are the norm. (Oh, the reason for the tasteful neckline is that she's not supposed to be able to get at anything hidden in her underwear. ;) I came up with the semi-transparent wrap because it was just plain boring otherwise.

I'm sure I'll be experimenting some more.

Anyway, this is supposed to be one Loraia La'kasha, probably the most beautiful and talented lady assassins of her generation. She seems to currently be attached to the younger prince, but no one actually supposes that either of them actually cares for the other. The truth, of course (I don't think the Sa'rashi have a word for "truth"...), is very interesting. ;)
Sarah - 5:10 PM - 0 comment(s)

Tuesday, May 27, 2003

Calling all doll-makers...
This cute little red-clad Elf-chick is for a base edit contest which you should enter. The base is little and cute, so it doesn't take too long to make a doll on it.

Anyway, the girl who is running the contest only got three entries for her last contest and I think she's feeling a bit lonely right now for other reasons so I'd really like to see this contest be a success. I assure you that entering contests is fun. ;)

My last storyline information post was such a huge success that I think I shall never, ever do it again. :P
Sarah - 8:09 PM - 0 comment(s)

Monday, May 26, 2003

The Ylshaerei/ylrannei essay.
A while back some people inquired as to why it is that so many of my characters from that one really long and involved and epic storyline seem to survive for hundreds of years. I wrote up this "little" explanation, which first requires that I outline some of the fundamental structure of their universe. Most of it has been sitting on my hard drive because I seem to recall that right around that time I had exams or something.

This is a nice example of the way that many of my worlds come to exist: I know the way things are from the beginning, often in a very vague and undefined way. After a while a logical basis starts to reveal itself, one that furthers my understanding of the original situation without fundamentally changing it. It feels more like "discovery" than "invention".

The Ylshaerei (eel-SHAIR-righ) are a race of essentially immortal beings. They can be hurt, damaged, or weakened, but not killed, although under very special conditions they can be destroyed. They are very powerful, by Mortal standards, and often come to be viewed as gods, though they, too, are a created race. They are not creators.

(Note my capitalization convention. Ylshaerei are—supposedly—Immortal, so when speaking from their perspective everyone else is Mortal. Ylrannei—to be explained later—and certain species such as some Elves are immortal, lowercase.)

The Ylshaerei started out in their own World, all of them together. The beginning of their history is rather vague, but they more or less spontaneously came to exist en masse, though certain family relationships existed from the start. These are the so-called “first generation” Ylshaerei. They lived together, for a time, preparing for their departure and dispersal. The shapes that they took were essentially human, and these remain their dominant form.

A second class of Ylshaerei, often viewed as inferior (when in fact they are not), are the so-called “second generation”, a term which refers to all newcomers, who must literally be “born”. They are often treated like perpetual teenagers and are much more likely to have a non-human primary form.

Anyway, from the beginning they were all destined to go their separate ways, to go out into the Worlds and make them their own. They went in groups both large and small, with very different ideas as to what they were supposed to be doing and how they were supposed to do it. Some of them set themselves up as gods; others became nature spirits or semi-deities. Their power is such that they can be great rulers, if they so choose.

They retain the ability to travel between Worlds, but this is difficult and not often attempted—for practical purposes, they can generally get back to the home-World if necessary (i.e. for social gatherings, which oddly enough, do happen every few centuries), but generally they are bound to their own Worlds. They tend to attract followers and model themselves after them. An Ylshaerei who is responsible for dragons, for instance, will be able to take the shape of a dragon, but changing to any other shape is liable to be difficult. Individual abilities and affinities vary.

I can fit literally any story under this umbrella, but more often I don’t deal on this level. Most folks don’t even know the term “Ylshaerei”. It doesn’t come up.

The truly crucial thing about Ylshaerei is that they are not inherently wiser, more moral, or otherwise better people than any other race. They are neither omniscient nor omnipotent. Also, the first generation majority came into being more or less spontaneously. Their original training was practically in isolation; imagine living in a college “bubble” for which there exists no “outside world”. In the beginning, most of them are inexperienced and inclined to overreact. Now imagine being stuck with your impossible roommate or younger sibling for not just a year or two, but hundreds, thousands, with no end in sight. When associated Mortal races become involved, it can get very messy.

Any violent conflict between Ylshaerei is essentially going no where. They can (and do) attempt to settle their differences themselves, but if it ever came to a straight-out battle, even a vastly uneven fight would release enough power to devastate whole Worlds. Even the bad guys don’t want this, not really. When these folks get into a fight, it must inevitably be acted out between their Mortal followers. This is the only way the issue has any hope of ever being resolved, and is actually much less violent and destructive than the alternative.

The practice of taking up Mortal ylrannei began as soon as the Ylshaerei left their original World. It’s a safety measure, a fall-back, and a way of protecting and extending one’s power. A certain amount of power is granted to the ylrannei, who can then act as one’s agent or assistant, but more importantly, they’re like little rechargeable batteries. They hold on to a certain amount of power and prevent the Ylshaerei from overextending him or herself. (They can kill themselves accidentally if they don’t have this protection.)

Technically, anyone can be one’s ylrannei—it could be a group of people or even another Ylshaerei. By tradition, there is usually only one, probably because a group is not really much use, and the amount of power that has to be handed out is enormous. Another Ylshaerei would be able to take the link both ways, so to speak, so most of them wouldn’t even consider it. Mortals work best.

How ylrannei are treated and what they do varies greatly from World to World, from one group of Ylshaerei to the next. Sometimes they are high priests and priestesses, sometimes they are servants, and sometimes they are agents or emissaries. Holding that sort of power makes them “immortal” in the same sense that Ylshaerei are immortal, only less so, which means that they pretty much live until killed (it can be a dangerous occupation).

First generation Ylshaerei, as it turns out, do not make terribly good primary characters, though they are interesting as supporting characters (and I have an entire saga about a bunch of second generation Ylshaerei and several of them show up at the end of this one). The majority of the important characters in these storylines turn out to be ylrannei.

All of which is an extremely lengthy way of explaining why it is that most of my characters manage to survive for hundreds of years.

Sarah - 3:20 PM - 0 comment(s)

Saturday, May 24, 2003

We made snickerdoodles.
Because, you know, that never happens around here. They're for coffee hour tomorrow, an event which has great theological significance for Lutherans.

My thumb hurts where I slipped and accidentally hit the baking pan. (Ouch.) So I won't type out as much as I might have otherwise.

This is my interpretation (and the last time I do two such designs in one day) of a young Aredhel Ar-Feiniel, called the "White Lady of the Noldor" because she always wore clothing in white and silver. Hint: Don't attempt to make a doll of a character who only wears white. You will hurt your eyes.

"Aredhel" is Sindarin (ha! I must be a true geek to be able to recognize that without looking it up). At one point her Quenya name was "Írissë" (I don't know if that can be considered valid but it's as good as anything). That would be the name she would've gone by when she was young in Valinor. She's a first cousin of Galadriel but she spent more time with her other cousins, Feanor's sons, riding and hunting. Which is why I didn't put her in a lovely gown; a person can certainly ride and perhaps do very light hunting in a dress, but I think these folks were pretty serious hunters and I'm sorry, you just couldn't do that in full skirts. (Note that she's got her full sleeves tied up.)

It's funny how these rather minor characters (or rather, obscure in the sense that we don't know much about them) develop personality as I work on them. Aredhel, I think, never said "no" to a challenge in her life. Was she "one of the guys" or did half of her cousins (Feanor and Fingolfin were only half-brothers so it's a pretty distant relation as far as royalty goes) have crushes on her at one point in their lives?

This is how one comes to enjoy the Silmarillion: one gets into the characters, the scenarios, the stories, and the little details are sort of filled in automatically. (I mean, we're talking one very short paragraph of text here.)

The rest of the story is not so pleasant and I won't get into that here.
Sarah - 11:09 PM - 0 comment(s)

Meet the coppersmith's daughter.
That makes her sound like she's going to turn out to be some sort of peasant, doesn't it? ;)

Nerdanel is one of Tolkien's very cool and very, very obscure female characters. It's funny; we know only of her relationships to men (her father, Mahtan, the red-haired smith known for his love of copper; her husband, Feanor, Noldorin prince often considered the greatest of the Noldor; her seven sons) but in fact what's interesting about Nerdanel is how she breaks that mold. Because she isn't just a pretty obedient little wife, could for wearing lovely dresses and making babies.

Nerdanel ("firm" + "patient" = "stubborn"?) is the only one who is ever reported to have ever been able to reign in Feanor, which means she must be a rather remarkable personality herself. (I mean, we're talking about the guy so charismatic he convinced almost all of the Noldor to leave paradise and go into exile by sheer force of personality.) Aside from her wisdom and foresight in naming her sons (Elvish women seem to share the knack for prophecy with regards to their children), we know she's not the type to be dominated or bullied into submission because when Feanor and their sons depart, Nerdanel—perhaps the wisest of all the Noldor on that day—does not accompany them. She's not about to let any man compromise her principles. ;)

As I worked on this doll, I got to really like this lady. I like to think that if poor, lost Maglor (presumably still wandering the western shores of Middle-Earth) has any hope, then it's his mother.

Anyway, I'm thinking of doing a series of very obscure female characters from Tolkien. Just because some of them are really fabulous. ;)
Sarah - 4:57 PM - 0 comment(s)

Friday, May 23, 2003

I really don't feel like coming up with a title tonight. :P
So I was getting really, really irritated with the legions of Orlando Bl-I-mean-Legolas dolls with blonde hair. Because really, we've been debating about the color of the poor guy's hair for years. The evidence just isn't there. WE DO NOT KNOW. And it really, really irritates me that it doesn't even occur to people anymore.

So I did a bit of research and decided that light brown seemed quite plausible. I mean, we know that Thranduil had "golden" hair, so blonde is quite possible as well, but I was trying to illustrate a point. The truth is that blonde hair among the Noldor was definitely a rarity and I think that the Teleri were dark-haired, too. Sindarin Elves, like Legolas' father (and possibly his mother; we don't know anything about her), are Telerin in origin so I would expect blonde hair to be rare. (The reason people think it is standard is because such a big deal is made of Galadriel's golden hair. The fact that it is rare, of course, is the very reason for it to be mentioned so often. ;) We really don't know anything about the hair color of the Silvan Elves of Mirkwood. But I think blonde hair would be a rarity among Sindar (especially in Rivendell, where one might expect it to be worthy of notice).

Of course all that makes it sound a lot more reasoned than it actually was. :P ("Hmmm....dark hair? No, how about brown? A fairly light brown...yeah.")

And then I felt inspired to do a bit of art research which pretty much consisted of looking up my very favorite Tolkien artist, Anke-Katrin Eissman. She tries very hard to match the descriptions in the book, so I figured that would be a good place to check. And, lo and behold (for reasons that I'm sure can be no better than mine, because trust me, the evidence simply does not exist), her Legolas has light brown hair, too! Cool!

And that made me feel better, but what really made me feel better was the fact that she has recently done a couple of absolutely fantastic paintings of Faramir and Éowyn (no doubt as a die-hard Faramir fan's reaction to certain elements of certain movies which shall not be mentioned here). Yay! That made my day!

Normally I don't understand the whole drooling fangirl thing at all, but guess what I have as my background right now? (Except that it's really not the same because I don't actually have a crush on any of the characters involved. I just think it's pretty and romantic. ;)

Oh, and incidentally, a quick browse of that collection is like browsing through a list of most of my favorite scenes and stories.

But it was nice to remind myself that there are still old school fans out there and, well, we survived this long without any truly new material to fuel our interest, so there has never been any risk of the movies damaging us.

Oh, and looking for pictures of Faramir (not a fangirl! not a groupie!), I stumbled across another artist who seems to have a Boromir fixation but who also draws Faramir pretty darn well. ;) There are some great pictures of Boromir and Faramir together that I think show something very important that has been lost in Peter Jackson's version (and some cute ones with them as kids). Oh, and I propose that Aragorn shows up in no less than four of those pictures (bad fanfiction not included). Three are fairly obvious but I'll give an as-yet-undetermined prize to the person who catches the fourth one. ;)
Sarah - 11:56 PM - 0 comment(s)

Wednesday, May 21, 2003

What is it with the supporting characters?
I think it's that I'm afraid of messing up the main characters.

Dána Eikála is really not actually in the story except a) in the Distant Past and b) in the Distant Future, but she's part of the background for one of the main characters (who...er...were supposed to be supporting characters themselves...) and that makes her fairly significant. She's the youngest child of an extremely prestigious Teiyréan family.

The Teiyré, the High Elves of my world, are the only strictly pureblooded Elves and the only ones who are technically "immortal". They are beautiful, elegant, intelligent, sophisticated, and powerful. They have an affinity for healing and their warriors are the best, which means that they're very useful as allies—as long as you don't mind their looking down their perfect Elven noses at you. (The fact that they probably are better than you is no excuse.) They can be quite gracious when they put their minds to it, but they're aristocrats at heart.

Dána is fairly young (she can't be much older than 90 or 100...) and much more down-to-earth than most of her kin. The Eikála estates (or some of them...) border on the land of the (human) Daekan family (hehe) and Dána befriends the little Daekan girl. Which I guess is not really relevent. But Dána becomes quite convinced that her people are being far to agressive with regards to the bad guys and that it's only going to end in disaster. She ends up leading a group of Elves (most of whom are not Teiyré, of course) to a place that they all believe will be safe and thus is out of the way for most of the story. (They're kind of like Elf hippies except that a-they're not high, b-they're not at all silly, and c-they end up being right.)

It ends up being a good thing that Dána does her little thing, because it sets in motion some things that end up being Rather Useful. (I'll say "thing" three times in a row if I want to. Thing, thing, thing!) No one realizes that for a very, very long time, however. In the "present" story, what is relevent is that, aside from the rather dramatic events that result from Dána's departure, big brother Táeren is a major player in the even more exciting events to come. I really, really like Táeren. (Excuse me. Lord Táerenan Eikála Var'kyr. He's still an arrogant brat at this stage.)

You see? Even my minor supporting characters in this thing have long, involved stories. :P
Sarah - 9:54 PM - 0 comment(s)

Tuesday, May 20, 2003

I have a serious question.
Okay, maybe not all that serious. But I'm definitely interested in getting some answers. ;)

All of the characters I have mentioned and the dolls that I have posted over the past few months have stories. If I were to actually force myself to write some of those stories, would anyone want to read them?

And if so, are there any in particular that have caught your interest? (I can make a little summary list if you have poor long-term memory...)
Sarah - 11:57 PM - 0 comment(s)

I discovered a new obsession.
Okay, maybe not an obsession. But they're cute!


Sarah - 9:53 PM - 0 comment(s)

Blue hair!
I swore that Aeva Midnight was the only blue-haired character I had, and I meant it. (Well, except for...but that doesn't count. ;)) And this doll is so spectacularly better than my previous attempt. I love her hair.

Anyway.

Yesterday was book-shopping day. Salli and I went to Darkstar (used book store extraordinaire) in the afternoon; I drove. And parked. I parked, you hear me? In Yellow Springs. (And Salli thinks I can't park.) I got that one ginormous Lackey book that Salli says I have to read and a couple of really cheap Wing Commander books. And then we went to Olive Garden for dinner (yay!) and stopped by Barnes & Noble afterwards and I got a book with some simple knitting patterns. :)

Next goal: Go to Hobby Lobby. Obtain some bandanas for Salli and some yarn and smaller knitting needles for me. (Alas, it is likely to be crappy yarn because the only place one can get good yarn is at a real knitting supply store.)

Also unpack. I really need to unpack...I'm not looking forward to the experience. (Season finale of 24 tonight. Yay!)
Sarah - 1:09 PM - 0 comment(s)

Sunday, May 18, 2003

It's time for another long story background post. Or maybe not.
Because, alas, the story in question needs to have its background world totally revamped before I can actually do anything with it. (I keep toying with the idea of making it sci-fi while I'm at it, but I'm not sure how that would work...)

I wanted to use this base because it is really, really cute, but I couldn't think of too many characters who would be appropriate, so you get a very young Nic and Neyla. She can't be older than 15, nearly 16 at most, for story reasons (because Things Happen on her 16th birthday).

The costume design is boring, boring, boring, but I assure you that I actually broke some rules to make it more exciting because it should really be all black. :P They're born-and-bred Tieyna'kanna, a race of extremely secretive fire-mages with impossibly long names. They fight a sort of shadow-war against an enemy that no one else can fight, yet he is so secretive that many of their own people doubt his existence. (It's pretty cool.)

[insert lengthy explanation here]

Nic needs a haircut. Neyla just needs Ritalin.
Sarah - 6:13 PM - 0 comment(s)

Well, we saw it.
The new Matrix movie, that is.

Wheee! There are problems (some of the fight scenes are bit long, the philosophy is wearing thin, the ending is several minutes later than it should be...), but overall it was a really good time. I got a bit hyper on the way back, prompting my father to utter the immortal line, "Sarah, what are you on?" Hehe. Sci-fi girl geek rush! Better than drugs or alcohol...

Fight scenes = good. Trinity riding motorcycles = good. Swords and daggers and poles and stuff = good. Agent Smith = Elrond. (Oh, wait...)

*ahem*

Mir: I seem to recall that you had a certain stipulation about this one (it went along the lines of "if they do this or this or this I will just explode" — okay, I rephrased it). Uhm...no comment. I really, really, really, really want to say something enigmatic, but I don't want to a) ruin it for you or b) be sliced into little bitty pieces by you. ;)

I got to babysit today. I swear, the kid can't be older than about three, and she can already use a (real) mouse and knows how to utilize the "back" button on a web browser. Hehe.
Sarah - 12:04 AM - 0 comment(s)

Friday, May 16, 2003

If Sarah were in The Matrix...
...then this is how it would happen:

Sarah - 3:08 PM - 0 comment(s)

I replied to Laramore's adventure.
Which you should be following. Revelations are in store, or maybe just confusion, depending on how well you have been paying attention. ;)

EP Status: The Curse of the Pharoahs; the first one was entertaining, if predictable (one doesn't read these things to be surprised, at least not by the general way of the things).
Sarah - 11:44 AM - 0 comment(s)

Thursday, May 15, 2003

And you thought I wasn't being productive...
I've been revamping my original Loyhalel dolls. Well...not so much revamping as just doing bigger dolls of the same characters, since I still love some of the originals. ;)


I have also been making—drumroll, please!—icons! Yay! I suppose we'll be putting these up officially at the Forest but here's what I've got for now:
Stick Figure Theater (16 icons)
Loyhalel (10 icons)
Misc. Forest of Shadows (8 icons)

Download them all and make your desktop pretty! Right now I have little Rytasé for my recycle bin (with and without scroll), Vrezhe/Ivaité for Network Neighborhood, the FOS flower patch (from the misc. set) for My Dcs, and Reyl for My Computer. And Sasheylal is my background. :) I recommend taking one of the Loyhahel as your background image, centered, with the desktop color set to something that matches (mine is...red).

I got a whole slew of Elizabeth Peters books from Kat's mother and shall be posting status reports.

EP Status: Crocodile on the Sandbank; I figured out which one came first and then I actually found it, which is really progress, okay?
Sarah - 8:12 PM - 0 comment(s)

Tuesday, May 13, 2003

Oops, forgot to post yesterday.
I was...uhmm...busy. Yeah, that was it.

Actually, I was kind of busy, which is really rather remarkable, don't you think?

On Sunday, when we had a meeting after all, I caught (or rather was caught by) one of my old camp friends on AIM (who also turns out to go to my church and take my father's exams). We agreed to meet for lunch (well, okay, he picked me up because I am not too comfortable driving again just yet!) at the deli and then ended up back at my house in the living room with the guitars (we have a lot of guitars). That somehow segued into me copying large portions of Mark's book of songs. Yay! And I picked up a lot of juicy camp gossip. :)

I have this terrible fear that I will be the most experienced person at camp this summer. Worse yet, I'm afraid I may be the most experienced guitar player. (Although apparently Liz is coming back, and though she just started last summer, she is a natural and has an ear for it so maybe she's loads better than me by now. ::crosses fingers:: )

And then we ended up going with Mark and some of his friends to see the X-men movie. Again. Note that we did not say 'no'. ;) Anyway, they happened to be X-men fans and they pointed out some things that I did not know and could not possibly have figured out from the movie alone, and now I must reluctantly admit that the ending is not so much contrived as pretty darn cool.

But there is a problem, and it is simple: this isn't Tolkien. They don't have that kind of masterful storytelling ability. Because if you don't know what mus be coming, if you aren't an insider who already knows these characters, it isn't just not as cool and meaningful—it looks kind of lame. If you don't get it, it should be less cool, maybe, but the truth is that you're likely to feel manipulated instead.

So I made that first doll Sunday night, actually. Mostly before the sim meeting. Her name is "Lassa" and she is one of the first two characters from my Really, Really Epic Storyline of DOOM. The base turns out perhaps a little too cartoony and chin-less for me (note that I added lips), and I'm not sure that she would actually have a purple warp-thingy like that, but what the heck. Violet is the color of Akisan's patron, Lianira Lyranya, whom they call "Leta".

And oh, isn't she cute? I can see why Salli likes these bases. Akisan is built around an enormous inland lake and spend a good portion of their lives in the water. "Leta" is reported to look just like a normal Akisani girl, except that she has violet eyes, which are unheard of. Her dark hair is more typical than Lassa's blonde (which, as you may have noticed, looks rather yucky when wet). Lianira and Lassa were my first two characters in this whole storyline. (I think Lianira came first. I think.) I actually have some snatches of the very beginning of their story written out somewhere. :)
Sarah - 12:04 PM - 0 comment(s)

Sunday, May 11, 2003

I can access the internet from my laptop anywhere in the house.
Isn't that cool?

When I was updating Eleni Aranelwa, I realized I've made a heck of a lot of dolls this last week? I know I was horribly busy—where did I find the time?

I've been amusing myself the past couple of days by making Elly dolls. This is the one that turned out best. :)

This is from a storyline that I am working on to occupy Elly while I am gone for the summer. She's convinced the higher-ups at ConFed that it is really in their best interests to make available basic information for telepaths in the military (it help recruitment, for one), enough so that they don't end up going crazy or having nervous breakdowns. In return, she gets to be the front for the publicity campaign they turn it into. She's tall, slender (one might almost say "skinny") and pretty enough, and her long, fine silver-white hair is striking and just a bit odd-looking. So basically she's pretty, interesting, well-spoken, authoritative, and an accomplished pilot and officer ("Lieutenant Colonel" just sounds cool; the "Lieutenant" part makes her sound young and of course the form of address is "colonel", just like you call a Brigadier General "general" even though they're not the same ranks). They can prove quantitatively that being a telepath makes her a better pilot, too.

Anyway, this dress is presumably intended for a non-military occasion (they'd put her in dress uniform for anything military, generally), but its colors are chosen to bring to mind her blue-with-gold-trim uniform, and the shoulder clasps are made to remember her rank insignia. And it must be a special occasion, indeed, if they've managed to get her to let her hair down. (I don't think anyone on the Equinox realizes how long it really is...)
Sarah - 6:55 PM - 0 comment(s)

My knee hurts.
I got up this morning, climbed out of bed, and promptly slipped and fell forward, most of my weight landing on my left knee, which now has an enormous bruise. It was bad enough at first that I felt nauseous for a while so I ended up not going to pick up Salli because I just felt too lousy. (And also, my mother got me up like five minutes before 7 and we were supposed to leave at 7...)

My luggage finally came. The driver apparently had them call me when I didn't answer the door (I was asleep) so she could make sure my guitar got inside before it rained. That made me feel better about the whole thing. :) I really don't blame the airline—it was probably the fault of the airport in Chicago (we were late getting there), and they did get my luggage to me promptly and safely.

And get this: my guitar is still in tune! I only lost one sticker. It was my ezboard sticker, which was kind of coming off anyway, so I went and orded a proper bumper sticker to replace it. :) Plus, I got too big nifty bilingual red (!) "fragile" stickers for free. (Guitar case decorating is an art. You can't just go and buy a bunch of stuff and stick it on there. You have to accumulate with time, and whatever you add has to mean something to you or reflect an experience you have had.)

Being back here is very, very weird. On one hand, it's like I never left, almost like the whole crazy semester in Montreal never happened. I tell my parents "I got an A in Intro to Computing!" and they're very pleased, but they have to take my word for it that a huge about of pain, stress, and sweat went into it! I mention how good it is to see green trees (and also it's kind of sureal, to be suddenly plunged into summer), to be in the United States, to have access to a car, but nobody really gets it, understands the enormous relief, and yet not-relief at the same time. That's the way it's supposed to be. It's what happens when you come up from an important trip. (It's like when you come home from college. You can't ever really come home ever again and it never will be the same.) There is also a part of me that misses the walking, the silly little sprigs of green, the sense of life one gets walking down a street that is routinely traveled by pedestrians. Nobody walks anywhere around here, unless they are exercising. Also, I miss having my own kitchen. Weird, huh?

Oh, and I've disowned the dog (again).
Sarah - 12:39 PM - 0 comment(s)

Saturday, May 10, 2003

::yawn::
Here now. Tired. Need nap. Not talking in complete sentences.

The flight was not actually not bad at all. (I should say "flights".) And really, my luggage should be landing any Dayton any time now. :P

I am absolutely exhausted. I just want to go to sleep, but I also kind of what to stay up to see if my suitcase and guitar arrive. :P

I shaded Alice and gave her hair at the airport in Montreal. That was the last time I was in one place for long enough to get my computer out! Poor Alice; the first time I tried to make a doll of her I failed miserably. This one is not my best, but the hair is lovely and that someone makes up for it. It's just that she looks too calm and collected. Though I suppose Alice could look calm and collected at times; she's the poster child for the "strong empathy is inherently unstable" theory.

I don't really feel like getting into that right now.

Maybe I'll go watch TV. ::yawn:: If I can get my little brother to move over long enough to let me. He pretty much takes over the whole den, which is just not cool. He has his own room, after all. The den is supposed to be shared space. Especially since that is the room with the TV, and the DVD player, and a gazillion channels...
Sarah - 8:09 PM - 0 comment(s)

Friday, May 09, 2003

(base)

This is for Eri. Are you there, Eri? I wasn't sure how to reach you.
Sarah - 11:19 PM - 0 comment(s)

I'm so tired.
I really want to take a nap. But it's not happening. I need to finish packing and make dinner and take a shower.

The doll is me celebrating the fact that tomorrow at this time, I will be in the USA again! I was never this patriotic before I came to Canada. (I mean, I've always felt that patriotism is good and appropriate, but I would never actually wear a shirt like that.)
Sarah - 6:42 PM - 0 comment(s)

I GOT AN A IN INTRO COMPUTING!
Yahoo! Yippee! Yay!

I also got a B- in Differential Equations. Not that I'm complaining, but that just can't be right. (I bet he decided to scrap the exams since the TAs are on strike and he'd have to grade them all himself...)

And I'm about to call Sympatico, so if I disappear suddenly, you will know why.

That is all.
Sarah - 11:05 AM - 0 comment(s)

Thursday, May 08, 2003

Yeee-aahhhh!
It's been a long day. I haven't really done anything except UPS, and it has been a long day. How does that end up happening?

The UPS guy finally came and I got rid of those five boxes. Which means just two more nights and one more day with Carol's dusty pillows (I felt it this morning, bet I have a sinus infection by Saturday, that always happens when I fly :P) and no sandals.

I bought a pair of new shoelaces for my brown boots. They are...red.

Here is yet another "what Sarah is wearing at the moment" doll. The neat thing about bases with bigger heads is that even though they kind of freak out Salli, the eyes and face are bigger, so such details as glasses and little stray strands of hair become more doable. Note my new obsession with little folds in the fabric. Picture It can't really do that properly for smaller dolls, but for bigger ones one can get finer details.

Plus, she's big enough that I got a couple of new personal photos out of the deal. :)

That's my "don't drink and derive" t-shirt, by the way. ;)
Sarah - 9:10 PM - 0 comment(s)

If there were real mages in the real world, what would they really be like?
Standard urban fantasy would have us believe that they'd be "individualists", independent people who despite the fact that they seem not to want to be treated like freaks, generally favor "alternative" lifestyles. (If the idea is to convince us that they are just like normal people...why aren't they ever remotely like normal people?) They are also inevitably either pagan or non-religious.

But does any of this make sense? Why should having magical powers automatically mean a person must worship some goddess or dress like a punk? If there were real mages, wouldn't most of them be normal people? And, like C.S. Lewis said (okay, he didn't take it quite this far), wouldn't we want there to be Christian lawyers, Christian doctors, Christian politicians...and Christian mages, too?

So I started playing with the idea and figured that yes, they could dress like punks, if they so chose, but they could also dress like geeks or trendy socialites or businesspeople. And I don't think it would really be likely that they'd be atheists; they'd see too much. Since it would be difficult for them to completely avoid the question, they would be more likely to seek out the Truth, which means they would be more likely to be Christians than "regular" people. And why not? Magic use is just another gift, like being a good musician or doctor. Some people have perfect pitch or photographic memories; others might have a trace of psychic or magical ability.

Anyway. I did not intend to go there. Bailey is a part of my attempt to work out a system that could actually work in the real world. She's a medical student from Ohio (of course); I think she goes to Ohio State. I also just decided that she is Anglican (Episcopalian). She sort of sprang into my imagination fully formed and dressed in that little sky blue jacket.

"Bailey" is her middle name. I don't recall her last name (I've got it written down in a notebook somewhere) and there is no way she is going to tell you her first name.

I sort of stumbled across a new shading technique. Yay! The cool thing about bigger dolls like this is that I can do more of the shading with Picture It.
Sarah - 3:15 PM - 0 comment(s)

Add UPS to the list.
I've talked to them on the phone several times over the last few days. Why did they wait until this morning to tell me that I have to give them the weights and dimensions of my packages? How the heck am I supposed to know how much this stuff weighs?

I had to call Carol and she's bringing over her scale sometime in the next hour. At this rate, I'll finally be able to order a pick-up by 12:30 or 1:00. :P It had better happen today. I can't afford to spend all day tomorrow waiting around, too! (And I have stuff I wanted to do...in theory.)

But even then, it is going to be next to impossible because these boxes are really enormous and I have no idea how I'm going to weigh them! (I can't exactly hold them and stand on the scale because there is no way I can lift some of these on my own...)
Sarah - 10:59 AM - 0 comment(s)

It's an epic battle of "goodness" versus "ee-vill"...
...with the role of "goodness" being played by me and "ee-vill" is U.S. Customs. I think the forces of darkness are winning.

THIS CUSTOMS STUFF MAKES NO SENSE! AHHH!

So, on the phone, they talk like you have to declare everything that you are shipping, but the form very clearly does not have any category on the "stuff you need to declare list" to include personal possessions that one brought along and intends to send home. Which means that I haven't got anything to list! ARGH! MAKE SENSE, DARN IT!

I'm an intelligent person. If I can't figure this out, how can they possibly expect just anyone to be able to do this?

I'm calling UPS in the morning and making them talk me through the form. And then I'm getting copies made of it. And then I'm calling UPS and telling them to take all of these boxes out of the living room...

My room is not my room anymore. I hate that...usually it's just the one night before one leaves, but I'm stuck like this for several days still. :(
Sarah - 12:13 AM - 0 comment(s)

Wednesday, May 07, 2003

Pack, pack, pack!
I hate packing. I have two enormous boxes (all taped up) sitting in the living room. Yay. My pillows are packed and I miss them already. :(

The next thing I have to do is dismantle my laptop stand so I can get to the rest of my packing crates, which means I'll be working on the floor again. :P

I made a really pretty doll, the most elaborate one I've done yet and I think probably my best. But I can't show her to you because I entered her in a contest and I'm not allowed to tell which one is mine. :P You should all enter the contest (the picture one), so that she can get enough entries and move on. ;)
Sarah - 4:15 PM - 0 comment(s)

Tuesday, May 06, 2003

No comments.
How depressing. No one loves me. :(

Actually, I've noticed a funny trend. Everyone is posting to their blogs but no one is commenting at all. I think it's just that we are all really busy!

I went to pick up the customs forms at the UPS office today. The girl there tried to convince me to bring my boxes there to ship them. Yeah, right. I don't think she understood what I meant when I said that I lived on the other side of town! It wouldn't be easy. I think I'd have to do it in two trips. And the customs forms are not fun. I have to list everything I am packing and give an estimated value. :P (Like my made-up values will really mean anything, anyway...)

I've been packing. I hate packing.

I rented Princess Mononoke because it was finally in, but I'm not sure I'm going to get to watch it tonight. (24 is on. My laptop's battery only lasts for two and a half hours. There are no three-pronged outlets in the living room.) Ah, well.

My dad called the music store to look into getting me a really heavy-duty traveling case, but the guy he talked to (who must be trustworthy if my father asks him guitar questions) said that a guitar in a hard case should be fine in checked luggage. Heh, and mine is a pretty substantial hard case, as I learned trying to tote it all over the place last summer (it's heavy). So I guess that's what I'll do.

Which reminds me that I was going to call my mother.
Sarah - 7:41 PM - 0 comment(s)

Scroll, scroll, scroll.
That was a reeeeeeeeeeeaaally long post. This one shall not be. I'm just posting the doll I made (as predicted) while watching TV.

She's Tsinali, and a fairly random one at that, but she counts as something of a story doll because she is a culture study of sorts. She's a musician (well, obviously) and has the appropriate face-markings, blue for performing arts. I got kind of lazy by the time I shaded the skirts, but the blouse is rather intricately decorated in typical Tsinali fashion. Tsina decorate absolutely everything. I imagine that all Tsinali-made violins have blue trim. Note also the large amount of jewelry which is fairly standard as well.

I've just decided that her name is "Ganali" which means "high" (in elevation, as in vertical distance from the ground) because she has remarkably long legs.



Okay, so really I just wanted to try one of these cool musical bases. I think this is the biggest doll I've ever done. I begin to understand why people who have been making dolls for a while use so many different and unusual bases—one gets bored and feels like trying something new.
Sarah - 12:16 AM - 0 comment(s)

Monday, May 05, 2003

Loooooong day.
But first I guess I'd better mention last night. We had Chinese food. Lots of it. I mean, I've never seen so much in one place in my entire life. We had enough to feed twenty people and then enough leftovers to have another whole meal. At least.

And all of it was authentic—nothing like what you would find in Chinese restaurants, of course. (Not that there's anything wrong with what you find in Chinese restaurants: in fact, it's often a fine example of genuine home-cooked American food, and that's pretty nifty.) There were platters upon platters of dumplings with some kind of filling with pork and vegetables and stuff. They were hand-wrapped; I know because I helped. There were more dishes than I could list, but what really sticks out is the spicy soup. "Spicy" doesn't do it justice. People were literally crying, and I'm sure everybody's sinuses were cleared. (My mother would've loved it.) It was excellent...but wow.

The snickerdoodles were a huge success! I think they must be an American thing, though, because nobody had heard of them. Yay! I got to feed people fresh snickerdoodles! They're best like that—all soft and gooey and sweet.

Then I took a bunch of leftover dumplings home. Tonight I fried them, as was suggested—and yep, they are excellent that way, too!

Then there was today. I got up late. I guess there's not much to be said about that.

And then I called Air Canada, and it turns out that I may not be flying with them on Saturday after all, because they won't take my guitar unless a) I sign a form and check it with regular checked luggage (gee, like that's going to happen) or b) pay for an extra seat. The thought of someone throwing my guitar makes me sick! So I have no idea how I am getting home. Again. ARGGGHH! I JUST WANT TO GO HOME!!!!

Then I took a shower. I thought that would help. Then I could have a fresh start, and everything would be better.

Wrong!

I finally got around to calling about the carillon and it turns out they pretty much only do tours for like 15 people or more. Come on, give me a break! I don't want the little guided bit for tourists! I hated that. It felt like he thouht I was a tourist. I'm not. I know about bells and carillons. I play bells. I want to see the bells! I need bells. :( I don't think the guy I was talking to was really very clear on what I was asking and I'm sure he wasn't that comfortable with English. ARGH! I guess this goes to show what I have often said: we may not have the most or the best bells, and we may not be the most musical of towers, but the fact that we are open to anyone makes us something very special.

And then I called UPS, and I guess that went okay. The guy I talked to was very helpful and explained what I needed to do.

So then I went out, and I figured that once I went out, that would help. Everything would get better.

Yeah, you see where this is going, don't you?

I went to the post office as the UPS guy said I should do to get customs forms. They didn't have the right form and sent me to the actual post office post office (as opposed to the one at the pharmacy), but the woman there (who I think was just being a pain) told me that no, of course they couldn't give me forms, because they only have Canada Post forms. IT'S A FREAKING CUSTOMS FORM FOR GOODNESS' SAKE! It doesn't matter who is shipping it! It's the same thing! ::sigh::

But then I went to Mont Royal, and that was actually pretty nice. :) People call it "the mountain" but it's actually just a big hill in the middle of Montreal which is set up as a huge park. Lots of trees and grass and stuff. :)

So I thought, "gee, I can go the long way, or I can walk up the stairs. There's only 250 of them...I'm young, I can do it!" Yeah. Famous last words. It was a long way up (and the staircase is scary). I had to stop frequently and guzzle water and gasp for breath. Air is good. But the look-out was lovely! :) I got some ice cream at the chalet and just sat there for a while. That was good. Just sitting...mmmmm...and I got some guy to take my picture for me because he noticed that I was having trouble getting it to work. (Salli, if you are reading this, try and see if you can take a picture of yourself. I swear, the button just will not depress from that angle...)

And I saw a chipmunk! Yay! I haven't seen any since I got here. I think they're too shy for the city. It was pretty close, too. :) Chipmunks remind me of camp because there are so many of them at LMC (one of the Lutheran camps where I spent a certain appreciable segment of my life).

And then I wandered around a bit. It was good to feel grass and mud and good solid rock beneath my sandals for a change. :) I got sort of pleasantly lost and enjoyed not being able to see or hear anything "city". The trees are budding and the grass is very green. I found the big steel cross that is supposed to be famous. (Has anyone heard of it? I don't think it's really famous.) Then I walked back the slow, easy way. (Well, okay, I did the stairs again, but they are much less brutal going down!)

I'm really, really glad I did that. It made me realize that I don't need to worry about feeling obligated to go sight-seeing and catch as many museums and local culinary specialties as possible. And it was nice to get away for a little while.

Then I made my way down to campus to stop by the bookstore and pick up pen refills before I go home and can't get them anymore. I also got a red McGill baseball cap (I've wanted a cap for a while but could never find one that suited) and a keychain. :)

And then, to complete the "I need to feel better" experience, I stopped by Indigo (big bookstore) and did some serious shopping. (Other people go to a big city and buy local specialties or designer clothing. I buy books.) I got some French children's books for my mother to read to her glass (including a simple version of Peter Rabbit and my personal favorite La Grenouille Qui Avait un Parapluie ("the frog who had an umbrella")). I picked up a cheap French dictionary and the last two volumes of LotR (I already got the first one in Paris or Nice or something, I forget).

I went upstairs to the children's section to get an authentic Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (at last, the one with the title that makes sense), which was probably a mistake. There I stumbled across a new Brian Jacques book, The Angel's Command, which is a follow-up to Castaways of the Flying DutchmanCastaways earlier this semester and I really enjoyed it; it's classic delightful Jacques adventure and it's fresh and new (unlike the Redwall books, which are getting to the point that "formulaic" seems like an understatement—you just can't keep churning out new material in that kind of series forever). My only problem with it was that it consists of basically two storylines that are essentially separate; it never comes around full circle in the end to bring any kind of "closure" or sense of connection. But, gee, I suppose that'll have to be the last book of the series, won't it? So anyway, I had to buy that one.

And then I came back home carrying a really enormous bag of books. I fried my dumplings and now I'm going to watch TV and hopefully start a new doll. :) So yes, the day got better. I think I'm going to sleep very well tonight!

I still don't know how I'm getting home, though.
Sarah - 7:58 PM - 0 comment(s)

Sunday, May 04, 2003

‘Have you anything here to eat?’ (Luke 24:41)
That's a good one. The next time I have to fill out a silly form and it says "Jesus said..." I'm going to answer "Have you anything here to eat?"

The sermon today was actually about food. Really. I'm not making this up! I've always said that there was profound theological significance to such necessities as coffee hour and potlucks, but I never really meant it. But hey, it turns out those things do have theological significance! (That mean that since this blog is nominally about food...)

I made this portrait of Elly last night while watching The Matrix. I like the hair (though I would have preferred not to have it covering her ears, that was really a necessity since the base has elf-ears) and the texture on the uniform (which, alas, had to be boring), but the face doesn't really work for Elly. Oh, well...

You know, even though The Matrix is now trendy and popular among guys who wear trenchcoats to high school, it's still an awesome movie. I think because, for all that it is future-of-doom quasi-apocolyptic (which I think is the attract for the aforementioned group of angsty teenagers), it is ultimately about hope.

As I said recently elsewhere, the story never properly ends, but it's not so much left hanging as left at the beginning. You don't have to know what happens next because ultimately, on a sort of deep subconcious level, you know. Because even if the entire resistance movement is wiped out tomorrow, a seed has been planted, and as long as any human being is alive, hope will survive...and a little hope is a dangerous thing. Funny thing, hope—you can never quite eliminate it.

*ahem* And, of course, the fight scenes really rock. The were groundbreaking and revolutionary at the time, of course, but it's not one of those things where you watch and and go "yeah, this was remarkable at the time". You watch it and go "YEAH!" How long has it been, three or four years? That's got to be a couple of generations at the rate digital film-making is progressing these days.

Now I want to go see the new one on Friday. :P (And I really can't.) It's all your fault, Mir!
Sarah - 1:20 PM - 0 comment(s)

Darn it!
I wanted to get this one in for Saturday, but so much for that idea. :P Just missed it!

I'M GOING HOME! YAY!

I wasn't sure how I really felt about going home/leaving Montreal until this afternoon when my mother called to give me my flight information. I'm flying out next Saturday at 12:20. :) YAY! That just made me so happy! It really made my day! I couldn't stop smiling about it. YAY! I GET TO GO HOME!

And I went out to buy U-haul boxes. I have boxes! And packing tape! And bubble wrap!

The boxes were an adventure. It involved getting to the U-haul "office" (well, the one that was nearest and near a metro stop), which is really near the Namur station, which is a really good thing, as it turns out. I like Namur—it has enormously high ceilings with these fantastic geometric constructions about the lights. I think it's my favorite Metro art.

And then I got outside, and I could have just stepped into one of those shopping areas off the interstate in Ohio, Wal-mart and all. Well, except for the pedestrians, particularly the ones who were speaking French. So I went around the side of the building and found the U-haul entrance and then one of the guys there had to measure the boxes for me because I had the dimensions I needed but the boxes were all labeled in cubic feet. Then I made my selections (I do hope I got it right; I don't want to have to do that again) and paid for them. It was worth paying a little for the peace of mind I'll get from knowing that I have good, sturdy boxes. :) The guys at U-haul were terribly concerned by the fact that I intended to carry my purchase home, so they helped me to put the (flattened) boxes all inside the big one and then taped the ends so I wouldn't have to worry about anything falling out. Very nice. :)

And then I walked to the metro stop, and rode on the metro, and walked home, all while carrying really big boxes. They weren't heavy so much as awkward. Okay, I take that back. By the time I got home, they were heavy, too. My hands are still a bit sore. The worst part, though, was that the thing acted like an enormous sail and whenever a gust of wind caught it the wrong way, I was almost blown off the sidewalk!

Tomorrow is student night at church. :) I think we are having a (presumably authentic, considering the number of Chinese students we've got) Chinese dinner. And I am making SNICKERDOODLES!

The sad thing is that I will have to miss tomorrow night's sim. :( Just when I was getting really into my character...I spent some time today making Elly dolls! This little one is my new personal photo for my roleplaying account. :) The uniform is authentic. I spent some time last week doing a bit of research into the proper sort of decorations—they're too small to see, but the insignia on her shoulders indicate that she is a Lt. Colonel.
Sarah - 12:01 AM - 0 comment(s)

Friday, May 02, 2003

I went, I saw, I have a headache.
I saw the new X-men movie. It was entertaining. There was one bit that felt a bit contrived—as soon as the movie was over and that overpowering "ooh, cool, it's an X-men movie" music was no longer pounding in my ears, I didn't buy their internal non-explanation and it was transparently contrived for the purposes of ?cinema from the get-go. Ah, well. It was still very entertaining. I enjoy watching Hugh Jackman, and you just can't go wrong in any movie where Patrick Steward and Ian McKellan play guys with super powers.

We always say at home that we can go to our local theaters to see big new releases because nobody ever comes to us just to see something big. Local people go somewhere else. People do come to Montreal—as if they would need to, considering the population around here, which unusually high concentrations of students. Still, I got to the theater at about 2:15 and easily got a ticket for the 3:00 showing. I don't think they were selling in advance. (They are selling Matrix tickets in advance and have been doing so since at least last week.)

There was a line upstairs outside the theater, though, and it ended up wrapping around the entire enormous lobby and of course the theater was packed. There were more lines outside when we got out (the after school crowd, I suppose). Yay! I saw a fairly big movie on opening day at a big fancy theater! Probably for the last time in my life. The theater chain at home suits me—I get to go to movies and feel virtuous because I am supporting local business. :)

I've been in sort of a no-inspiration doll-making slump lately. I love this base, though, and I just had to try it. :) I had to adjust the eyes to make them narrower. I also adjusted the skin tone a bit to make it lighter, but that is not so easy to tell.

It's a very young Trinka, I think from just before she left her mother's people to head west—or maybe it's as she is leaving and here she is looking back one last time. I shaded her hair and clothing almost entirely in Picture It!, which was something of an experiment for me.
Sarah - 11:44 PM - 0 comment(s)

Thursday, May 01, 2003

The application is in the mail.
In theory, at least. I mean, the money (travelers' cheques, since they're Canadian, you know) that was supposedly sent so that it would arrive Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest still hasn't gotten here, and everyone knows how much faith I have in the Canadian postal service.

I think I'll have to see what details I can extract from Salli's brain. Clearly I won't be getting any information any other way anytime soon.

Yesterday, Lora turned in her huge paper, and we celebrated by renting three movies (it's stupid, you can only get them for one night!) and ordering pizza. I got pepperoni with pineapple! Yum! There are still two slices left in the fridge; that'll be my dinner shortly.

One of the movies was the old Bakshi Lord of the Rings. Most of what there is to say about that movie has already been said, a dozen time (oh, the balrog definitely had fuzzy bunny slippers, by the way), but the thing that still boggles my mind is that none of the Men wore pants. Really. None of them. All they had were these little short tunics and boots. The Hobbits wore pants. The Dwarves wore pants. The Elves even wore pants, but apparently these Men were too primitive to have discovered them yet. Hiking, riding, plowing through the snow...no pants.

Total amount of sightseeing accomplished this week so far: NONE. Oh, well. I accomplished a lot yesterday. I did some substantial "gardening" at the PCS, I produced some new Stick Figure Theater, and I even made a Forest-style name generator. That was my second generator. My first, less useful generator hasn't been uploaded yet. ;)

Tomorrow: X-MEN!!! :) That'll at least force me to leave the immediate vicinity of this neighborhood...
Sarah - 6:16 PM - 0 comment(s)

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