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Jul. 4th, 2008 @ 08:31 pm Extremely Bad Advice & Tomorrow's edition
Another week, another me-not-being-fired shocker!

This column is dedicated to all the hard-working call center workers.



( Oh! Also! )
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[info]chipzdarsky
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Jul. 4th, 2008 @ 07:31 pm With still a million things to say...

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2008/07/with-still-milion-things-to-say.html

Today the Arcadian idyll turned into something an awful lot more like work. TV interviews all morning, press conference all afternoon. Oh well.

Neil,I'm in Campinas-Brasil, and it's a 5-hours-car trip to Paraty. If I get there, most likely on Saturday, where can I find you since I don't have a ticket to Flip? I really, REALLY would love to have you sign one of books. I, like many in this sunny country am a major fan of yours. I REALLY love your books! And I'm dying to get my hands on Graveyard Book and Neverwhere...Thanks for the attention Livia

Let's see... first of all, you don't need a ticket for FLIP. You do need a ticket to get into the main tent where the authors are talking, or to sit down and watch the overflow screen -- but you can watch the interview without sitting down or listen from anywhere near where the big screen overflow place is. Richard Price and I will be talking at 11:45 am. As for signing, there will be a signing at about 1.00pm on Saturday in the signing area, which will undoubtedly go on for a while. We will probably have to limit the number of things I sign (so for heaven's sake don't hitchhike or drive carrying all the Sandman books plus another set for a dying friend -- they won't get signed. It will be two, maybe three things are most). I'll stop signing at 7.00pm when Tom Stoppard's talk starts, because I want to hear it.

I'll also be on on Sunday at the DESERT ISLAND BOOKS panel at 5.00pm -- there's no signing planned after that, though.

There may be more signing, there may not -- probably not, as the organisers haven't planned for it. I may sign stuff if you bump into me on the cobblestones or in the town square and ask nicely or just hold something out and smile (I have been so far, but it'll depend a bit on how many people try and whether I need to get from place to place) especially if you can do it without making it look like I've suddenly decided to do a signing in the street.
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Jul. 4th, 2008 @ 09:16 pm Have you seen the new McDonalds advert currently airing?
Here in the Uk, there's an advert with a bunch of kids and some adults putting up fences, painting fences, and planting flowers, and various farm-y things. The message of it, is supposed to be, look how natural and healthy we are, we use only the best in our fast food. Which would be fine. If it weren't for the fact that everytime I see it I don't get that message, I get "McDonalds. We use child labour."

*giggle* Way to make me smile advertisers.
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[info]distractogirl
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Jul. 4th, 2008 @ 02:56 pm Momentary presence.
Current Mood: blah
Tags:

New posts at [info]mikescomics.

I expect to have little to say in this blog for the next few days.

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[info]norda
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Jul. 4th, 2008 @ 02:35 pm Ever Wonder What a Fart Looks Like?
Current Mood: immature
I may as well admit it to those who do not already know, I still find fart humor funny. Way funnier than someone my age probably should.

I can blame it on my inner male, my sick weird sense of humor, on anything I want. The bottom line is, I can't help myself. Farting is just funny.

Yesterday, I was watching This Old House with my landlord, and they were using some kind of nail gun, that had steam or some kind of mist coming out of the end.

My landlord made some comment about them not wearing proper protection, and I said I thought it was just air.

He replied "You can't see air."

I felt a little silly and laughed at my stupidity, then said if we could see air, we would be able to see our farts.

Then I wondered if you pulled down your pants outside, when it was cold enough to see your breath, would you be able to see your farts? Is there enough moisture? How much vapor actually is in a fart?

This started a lively discussion about a controlled scientific experiment to determine this. I wish I could have recorded my landlord. He made most of it up, and I was laughing so hard I could barely breathe.

Then he remembered a video he saw of someone farting in infrared!

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/970472/how_to_see_your_own_farts/

I have to say this is both hilarious and impressive.

If we could see this regularly, there would be NO question about who did it.
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[info]_toxicity_
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Jul. 4th, 2008 @ 01:15 pm mobile thoughts

  • 18:29 Deeply excited at the prospect of throwing some content onto Grinding, tonight. So much has happened these past few weeks. #

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[info]moonandserpent
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Jul. 4th, 2008 @ 07:52 am (no subject)
pete got in late last night, i woke up around 3AM and couldn't go back to sleep so went down to watch part of a HP film with him. then T woke and, finding our bed empty, wandered downstairs to join us. of course, just like her mom, once T is up, she's up. in this case, with the holiday and the mandatory nap in the afternoon if she wants to see fireworks, we let her stay up for a bit and she eventually fell asleep on the futon. but the remarkable thing is that as we were all unable to sleep, someone happened to see minerva come to the door at 4A, begging to be let in.

she's lost a little weight, but wherever she's been for the last couple days, she seems happy and healthy. i'd really just about given up, though we were going to go post flyers over the weekend, mostly for T's sake. we have a friend who recovered a lost dog after 60 days, so she knew it wasn't hopeless. but a big white dog in the suburbs is a totally different thing from a stray tabby cat with no collar. so, this feels like a little miracle today and i'm happier for it.
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[info]phaenix_ash
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Jul. 3rd, 2008 @ 03:11 pm In which I break things
Tags:
Entropy has been a bitch to me recently:
  • Dry rot in my house.
  • Bluescreened my brother's laptop repeatedly after updating to SP3. Discovered that it was extremely out of date drivers after b0rking it some more with "system restore" which did not restore.
  • The "aux" button on my Prius's car stereo stopped working. I can't listen to my iPod in the car anymore.
  • The OSX 10.5.4 update broke USB on Nafnaf's iBook in a way that [info]haineux found fascinating.
  • OpenSolaris's standard update procedure breaks the install unless you do a few extra steps that they don't go out of their way to tell you. I found this out the hard way.
  • Vacuumed all the dead spiders out my dad's PC. I sucked one into the power supply which blew up in a small orange fireball when I turned it on.
  • Accidentally dunked my right Etymoic er6i in soup.
  • [info]matrushkaka's massive flu.
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[info]tongodeon
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Jul. 3rd, 2008 @ 03:55 pm (no subject)
an example of those omg-she's-growing-up-too-fast moments:

T now has her own library card.
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[info]phaenix_ash
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Jul. 3rd, 2008 @ 01:24 pm mobile thoughts
  • 23:18 I wonder how many people have tried to add @xgirla today? #
  • 00:26 I'm just pleased @xgirla exists. Now back to writing. "...eschatology is the enemy of the future." #
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[info]moonandserpent
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Jul. 3rd, 2008 @ 09:53 am Bootstrapping consummate.
Current Mood: contemplative
Tags: ,

Sounds like a spam e-mail, doesn't it?

But it's what I have to do today. I actually have something to contribute to [info]popfiend's Drama Free Thursday.

I've been asked for a hand in the dark numerous times this week, when I've wanted one myself. And I continue to find one more often when I reach my own out than when I sit in the dark alone and wait.

So here's my DFT contribution.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXHNItVEl4E

[Link is safe for work, but better appreciated at home with the sound on.]

It's one of my musical anthems. My friend Jay has his Citadel Boys as Muses... I have my guitar-slingers and lyric-wielders, and the Brothers Davies are high on that list. Thus this Loser's Lounge tribute warms my heart.

I dedicate "Better Things" to anyone who needs it today... Pam, Jay, Mari, Pogue, Reid, and another two-hundred-odd folks bookmarked on my LJ come to mind.

This song has gotten me through a lot of hard times since a certain fella named Ray played it for me in college.

So I'm strapping my metaphorical guitar to my back, tightening my bootlaces, and getting on with my day, because it's better than sitting alone and silent in the dark.

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[info]norda
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Jul. 3rd, 2008 @ 06:49 am (no subject)
i've been having a toe-stubbing, computer crashing, tongue-burning, paper-cut kind of time here. every little thing that could annoy me, has, repeatedly.

T wanted to help me clean a week or so ago and sprayed water all over the television. which dripped down into the cable box and fried it out. that's been replaced, but that seems like the beginning of a string of annoyances that range from minor to major. my IM crashes at the worst possible times, my computer freezes up just as i'm about to save a document due by EOB, i walk into doors (cliche, i know), and stub my toe so bad i lost a nail (gross). it all makes me want to go back to bed and not get up for a few weeks, until whatever-this-is passes me over.

minerva ran away yesterday morning and we haven't seen her since though the neighbors have. i suppose if we don't see her this morning i'll call animal rescue, but with the holiday weekend i really hope she comes home today, one way or another. she's the only animal i've ever had that i've felt bad about keeping indoors; she's more than half wild and has been intent on romping around the neighborhood ever since it got warm. i just hope she's having a good kind of adventure and decides to come back once the rain starts (any minute now).

i'm also having some major omg-my-kid-is-growing-up-too-fast moments, realizing in less than two months T's going to be riding the bus and going to school. there's a lot of graduating going on for both of us around that and it's got me teary and emotional for no good reason. there's so much changing for us and very quickly, so many pieces, little and big, falling into place in unexpected ways.
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[info]phaenix_ash
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Jul. 3rd, 2008 @ 01:17 am Maybe it's just me
I'm sure they were aiming more for "cute," but today's AppleGeeks actually feels a little ... blasphemous. Like "No! That's not how it goes! Don't Mary-Sue my movie!"

That .. might just be me, though.
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[info]notrajah
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Jul. 3rd, 2008 @ 01:19 am Vacations.
Current Location: Torreon, Mexico
Current Mood: sleepy
Current Music: Koichi Sugiyama - Dungeons (from Dragon Quest I)

Saturday.

Rehearsal for the play, then a gay march I had no idea would take place (Angie told me, she couldn't make it on time).

I met Ivonne, Chuy, la Oaxaca and Carlos, my ex, there.

Carlos invited me to a farewell party for Adán (and Rodolfo), who will go to Canada on July 4th. Rodolfo is so tender, he took care of everything for the party.

Carlos's cousin made a scene at the end. Bitch.

Sunday.

Mass.

Then, la Fête de la Musique, with everyone. It was cool. Hanna, a girl who played the previous day in the march, played here, too.

I noticed I am into Pop, mostly.

Raffa wins cook of the year. He made pâtes that tasted so cool, and he also gave us Swiss chocolate!

I loved Ceci's parents' bean burritos, too!

Sara gave me a ride to the bus station, and I traveled that night.

Monday.

Arrived home at 5:00. Talked with parents and bro, who picked me up. Then slept for a while.

Went to pick my comics up. They were a lot, because I hadn't come since March!!! Claudio wasn't at the shop, but I saw Mario and Alpha.

I saw Alex and Mafer that day, too.

Tuesday.

Stayed home. Read some.

Brother Óscar and his wife Angélica visited. Bro played Crisis Core, and so did our neighbor, Emmanuel.

Wednesday.

Went back to the comic book shop, and I saw Claudio this time.

I briefly checked my Facebook there. I was told Neto (friend from when I worked there) and Helena (friend from high school) are a couple!

I bought a yellow necktie I need for the play.

I visited Miriam at work, then went to the Alameda to eat, and then to Play!, a gay bar, with karaoke night. I will upload pictures later.

That's all for now.

César.
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[info]ashrising
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Jul. 2nd, 2008 @ 05:34 pm Ten of the Most Unreliable Airlines in the World
How sad is it that I've flown on five of these airlines?
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[info]notrajah
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Jul. 2nd, 2008 @ 11:01 pm The morning found me miles away...

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2008/07/morning-found-me-miles-away.html

Still in Brazil. Still with Miss Maddy. Still having a lovely time.

Bought lots of books in the Paraty Festival bookshop today -- and saw many beautiful Brazilian editions of my stuff I hadn't seen before.

My favourite article read on the plane, incidentally, was the wonderful The Magic Olympics -- with tricks explained! by Alex Stone, in Harpers, which you can read online at: http://harpers.org/archive/2008/07/0082095 (my second favourite was the Gopnik article on Chesterton in the New Yorker, but it's not online, and I think he missed the boat about Chesterton politically). [My mistake. The Harpers article is only readable for subscribers.]

Hi Neil,You wrote a lovely story, told by Abel (I believe) about crows sitting in judgment on their storytellers. Somewhere along the way, this story became fact in my head. I was wondering if there is any truth to the myth, or if it's just myth. Maybe you could pass the question on to the Birdchick?Thanks!MRM

The description of corvids sitting around one of their number, cawing back and forth, and then sometimes killing it and sometimes flying off is something I've run into in old bird literature (and more recently as well -- since Sandman 40 came out I've read an eyewitness account of it in the Smithsonian Magazine). As to why it happens, I don't think you'll find any bird people who claim to know.

I should mention that the collective noun for rooks is not a parliament (which is actually the collective noun for owls) or it wasn't until I wrote Sandman 40, anyway. Mostly it's a building or a clamour of rooks. Sometimes it's a storytelling of rooks, which sounds like something I might have made up anyway...

Does Neil have an official myspace page? If so what is the adress?

No, I don't. There's an unofficial one, or more than one out there. I keep meaning to set up official myspaces and facebooks, but really tend to feel that keeping this place under control is more than enough for one author, and it never happens.

Hi Neil--Not really a question for you, just comment. You mentioned Tom Stoppard in your blog today. They say you should never meet your heroes, but they never say how cool it is when some of your heroes meet each other and get along so well. You seem to get along well with just about everyone. What just makes me smile is that so many of them are heroes of mine (Dave McKean, Roger Zelazny, Tom Stoppard, Philip Pullman,... ).Good luck growing up to be Mr. Stoppard. You seem well on your way.Have fun!
Geoff

Actually, you should never meet your heroes if you want to keep them as heroes. They may wind up as friends or as disappointments or as pleasant surprises, but once you know them they immediately stop being heroes. (I've turned down several opportunities to meet Stephen Sondheim socially, because he's practically all I've got left. Even David Bowie, who I've never even met, has managed to transmute in my head most of the way from DAVID BOWIE ZOMG!!1!* to my friend Duncan's dad.)

But then, I'm not sure about heroes at the best of times. I wrote about it at http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2004/10/whatever-happened-to-sancho-panza.asp
and still feel pretty much the same way now.

The most remarkable thing about Tom Stoppard (leaving aside the whole him-being-a-genius thing) is he's twenty years older than me, and he has my hair!

This gives me hope.



.......

*correct !!1! punctuation assistance here by Maddy.
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[info]officialgaiman
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Jul. 3rd, 2008 @ 12:40 am (no subject)
Current Mood: okay
Current Music: The Bill.
Aw, poor me. Ditched by the cute guy before I've even slept with him.

I just wish I hadn't talked about him quite so much before he told me he didn't want to lead me on. I feel like a bit of a twit now!

Hurt, but not broken hearted. Yeah, I would've like to have pursued something, but *shrug* if he's not interested in taking it further then that's fine too.

Don't comment with sappy 'I'm sorry' messages. I'm not being brave, I actually am not that upset about it.

ETA - I know I seemed... invested in it in the last three entries, but I was in lust with the guy, and in love with the idea of being with someone. That's it. I wanted someone in my life that would hold me close in bed so much, that I let myself be silly about this guy who was attractive to me.
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Jul. 2nd, 2008 @ 07:00 pm "Wanted"
Tags: ,
Take a half-serving of Bourne Identity. Add one part Equilibrium and one part The Matrix. Sprinkle in a dash of Fight Club, the itsy-bitsiest smidgn of Office Space, a healthy dose each of creativity and originality and stir in a whole lot of of awesome, and what do you get?

You get Wanted, which was just awesome. The previews make it look like a poorly-planned, seen-it-before, too-special-effect-dependent movie that's only passable if the popcorn is good (think Ultraviolet), but it's actually a good, solid film. The elements we've seen before still get a fresh enough turn, for the most part, and the whole thing is beautifully shot and full of tension. There's even--gasp!--a chewable but easy to follow plot.

Seriously, that film was so much more enjoyable than I ever thought it would be from the previews. I highly recommend it.

(And IRC guys: yes, there was Jolie boo-tay.)

Edit: I should note that I haven't read the comics, and apparently the movie is vastly different from them. If you loved the comics, view with that in mind.
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[info]ranchonmars
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Jul. 2nd, 2008 @ 03:47 pm Fair. Balanced.
The fucktards at FOX News, not even pretending to act like a respectable network, did a piece on a recent NYT article about them where they (get this) drastically altered file photos before using them.

The mind boggles.






More here
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[info]notrajah
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Jul. 2nd, 2008 @ 04:02 pm An Afternoon of Productive Procrastination
Current Mood: accomplished, sort of...
This afternoon I realized that sometimes I do something I think of as productive procrastinating.

I don't think it is that uncommon, especially among procrastinators.

It is just a fancy term (I made up) for doing everything but what you should be doing.

It seems that I spent most of the day doing everything but writing. The only writing I did was replying to a few emails my sister sent me. But nothing long.

( Cut for computer blarble. This just seems like it would be boring to anyone else but me. )
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[info]_toxicity_
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