I am finally getting my shit together with the podcast that I came up with lo these many months ago.  It's called "Au Revoir, Monsieur Metaphor!" and I'm hoping to put the first episode out on November 30th, 2008.  I've got the blog and the hosting all worked out, so now I'm seeking permission from authors and putting together promos and intros.

This is going to be so much fun!

So, as it turns out, after spending several hours looking for original short stories online, I'm coming up with a big goose egg.  Perhaps I'm not looking in the right places, but almost everything I've found is rather poorly written - or at least, it doesn't even touch the calibre of fan fiction I've had the pleasure of reading during my time as a lurker on LJ.  So I've decided to switch to fan fiction; specifically, I'd like to read adult-oriented Buffyverse stuff.  

Gee, I really wish I could find some better original fiction, though.  That idea is probably better for putting in a portfolio.  Hmmm, maybe I should go check portfolio requirements again.

It’s been ages since I posted in here. I think it’s time for me to revive this journal. Since I last posted, I’ve graduated from university, gotten a job, and moved to Toronto for said job. I’ve also already decided that this field is really not for me. I guess I kind of knew it all along, but now that I actually have a full-time job in the industry, I’m sure of it. I’m fairly compentent and could do an all right job at it, but I know that it’s not my passion. It’s not nearly creative enough - the writing is so technical and jargon-filled and mostly from templates. There’s just no way to inject personality into it.
   
So, I’ve decided to go back to school. I almost can’t believe that I’m actually considering/deciding this after being SO happy to finally be done. However, I think that this round of school will be exponentially more fun than the last round. I think I’m going to get a BA in TV and radio production. My focus will more than likely be in radio, since I’m very fond of the genre. I’ve been listening to CBC Radio 1 every day for about four years, and I can’t think of anything I’d rather do more than work for the CBC. I go back and forth on which aspect of radio production I would most like to do, but I think a job as producer would be my favourite. Although, if I could choose anything, I would love to host the Current. So many awesome guests to interview! So many incisive questions to ask! My jack-of-all-trades know-a-little-about-everything brain and news-junkie habits would make me a good producer, though. So that’s what I’m going to aim for. I’m going to commit, right now, in writing, to applying to the program (at a university in Toronto) for entrance in September 2010. That means I have to start saving up, and I might possibly even take some distance ed courses now so that, along with transfer credits from my last degree, I can shave a year or so off the program, and hopefully wrack up less debt.
   
In the same vein, I’ve decided that the best way to get a little practice and spruce up my portfolio for applying (well, populating my portfolio, actually), is to start a podcast. I know that I won’t have the time to generate a ton of original material for a podcast, so what I decided to do was have a podcast dedicated to reading original fiction (mostly short stories) and possibly poetry. I’m planning to put my idea out there on various writers’ communities on LJ and see who bites, because right now I have no idea who’s writing original fiction online. I’m only familiar with online fan fiction. However, I’m sure there are tons of writers out there with amazing stories. I really hope that people will be amenable to the idea of their stories being read and listened to via podcast. I’m certainly excited to get started!
   
In the same vein, I’m going to be participating in NaNoWriMo again this year. I tried last year and didn’t get very far. I only made it to 13,000 words. I think I failed mainly because my story idea was really lame. But this year, I’m feeling much more confident about my plot ideas and I can’t wait to start writing. My story is going to be historical fiction with a World War II British war bride as my main character. I think that what the war brides experienced is extraordinary and so compelling, and that whole aspect of the war seems to be underrepresented in fiction (that I know of). I’m very excited to explore it.

For the first time in their 24-year history, the Green Party is polling ahead of the NDP and the Bloc to become Canada's third most popular party!

WOOT!

So I have the first presentation for my thesis coming up on Thursday, and I've been making PowerPoint slides for it, because, well, that's what you do.  And of course I send it to my advisor to take a look -- and he sends it back, of course.  TOO MANY WORDS, apparently, which is a fair criticism.  I do love my words.  So I fix it and send it back again, and I get it back about an hour later, and it's been COMPLETELY torn apart and put back together such that it's unrecognizable!  With an advisory in the covering email to not change it back, not matter what!

I'm all for constructive criticism, but I feel like it's not even mine anymore.  And I'm pretty particular about the visual aspects of presentations that I do, and sorry, but he's made it ugly.  All sorts of garish colours!  I can't imagine that making it ugly is really going to improve my presentation.  And he's added lots of boxes where I'm supposed to put gratuitous pictures that really aren't going to add anything, other than to provide the ADHD audience with lots of shiny colours and pictures to distract them from the serious.

And to top it all off, I am like 10,000 words behind on my NaNoNovel because school this week has been kicking my ass.

Man, I long for the days when you didn't have a professor scrutinizing and changing everything you do.  I wish I could just do a half-assed job and hand it in and get a half-assed mark.

For chrissake, all I have to do is pass.

Today I was listening to the radio (CBC Radio One) and they had a soundbite from some former producer who went on and on about how nobody cares about the writers, they just care about the actors.  I thought that was the biggest load of crap ever.  I care about the writers!  With the exception of one or two actors from my favourite shows who HAVEN'T come away with huge swollen egos (James Marsters or Katee Sackhoff anyone?) I couldn't care less about the actors.  But I'll follow the writers anywhere.

I had a weird dream last night about knowing Rainn Wilson in real life and having a big crush on him.  It was strange, yet hot.  Odd.

NaNo is going pretty well - I'm about 1000 words above the absolute minimum.  I'm also not yet hating my story.  Hurrah.

It's been ages since I posted.  I've been really, really busy with school - this is my busiest term ever because I'm taking above the full course load (6 courses and a for-credit lab) as well as working on my fourth year thesis.  So I must be absolutely insane for signing up for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), but I really want a kick start into writing more, and cranking out 50,000 words in one month seems like a good way to do that.  I'd actually like to try submitting novels and short stories to publishers (like, romance publishers) so I guess I've gotta get started like this to get anywhere.

I also really, really want to start writing some fan fiction as Buffy and Angel are really starting to fire my imagination after reading some awesome fanfic this week.  Oh, so much to do and not enough time to do it in...

Something really sad and horrible happened today.

So far I've survived two rounds in lotr_lims and it's been a lot of fun.  I am so new to Photoshop that I'm pleased I've even lasted this far, and I'm glad I'm getting this chance to test my fledgling skills.

I had this whole long post written a few days ago, and then Livejournal ate it!  I have to get used to this interface and its quirks.  Today's been really relaxed and chill - I slept in a bit and then did the big pile of dishes that has been accumulating for the past few days.  I have to go in to work today to get started on a lab experiment that I'm doing.  It's complex and frustrating, and I really hope that things go as planned.


I've got to head to work.  Hopefully I'll have time to post more later.

This weekend I went up north to The Boy's parents' house.  We had a pretty nice time, mostly because I was able to stop stressing about things for a few days.  We went on a massive shopping trip, ate a giant takeout box of poutine, and picked three baskets of wild blueberries.

I ordered the fourth issue of Buffy Season 8 over a month ago from tfaw.com and it still hasn't arrived yet.  I have a sneaking suspicion that someone in the upper apartment in our house filched it, but I've asked repeatedly and no one's fessed up.  I'll have to report it as lost in the mail to tfaw.com.  I hope they send another one! At this rate, issue five will show up sooner.

I've made the decision to sell my car.  I never drive it, and I could really use the money for tuition this coming semester.  The only problem is it's dead in my sister's driveway.  I have to put insurance on it, tow it to a shop, get it fixed, then get it ready to sell.  It seems so daunting, but I really have to get on it.

Occupation: University Student/Lab Slave

I'm starting my fourth year of hydrogeology in the fall.  (Hydro = water, geo = earth; it's basically groundwater studies.)  Why, yes, I do find it exceedingly boring.  I plan to use it solely as a nice cushy pillow should I fail at a more creative or meaningful endeavour.  Right now I'm on co-op, which means I get paid to do some seriously tedious work in a lab.

Status: In a relationship

I live with my boyfriend of 1.5 years, whom I will refer to as The Boy from here on out.  We moved in together in May and so far it's been working out great.

Pets: One cat, two mice

I have two girl mice (named Pinky and the Brain, natch) whom I've had since May, and a grey girl kitten named Athena whom I just adopted from the local Humane Society about three weeks ago.  All three are teh qte and amuse me no end.

Loves: Storytelling of any kind, cooking, a clean apartment, independence

My first love was books.  When I was a kid I would read absolutely anything, from the newspaper to my dad's Tom Clancys to the backs of shampoo bottles.  I've become quite a bit more selective about my reading material since then, mostly due to my lack of reading time these days.  Some good recent reads include: JPod and Microserfs, both by Douglas Coupland; A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews; and A Woman's World: True Stories of Life on the Road, edited by Marybeth Bond.  My all-time favourites are Lord of the Rings, the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon, the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, and the Earth's Children series by Jean Auel

I've always enjoyed movies as well.  Some movies that capture my imagination or make me think are: the original Star Wars trilogy, Lord of the Rings, the Matrix trilogy, Office Space, High Fidelity, Shortbus, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and Kill Bill.

I was only recently turned on to watching television, particularly highly serialized dramas and cartoons.  My first love was Star Trek: TNG (although strangely I've never watched any other iterations of that franchise).  I've also enjoyed Sex and the City, Undergrads, Clone High, and the Simpsons.  My current obsessions are Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, Battlestar Galactica and Veronica Mars.  I've also recently started watching Heroes and am working my way through the first season.

Thanks the the Buffy Season 8 comics, I've started becoming interested in that medium.  I purchased the first volume of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman comics (Preludes and Nocturnes) and I absolutely loved it.

I used to be the worst cook in the world, but since moving out of the house and becoming a vegetarian I've had to expand my repertoire, and now I'm pretty darn good if I do say so myself.  I love using fresh ingredients and experimenting with ethnic cuisines.

There is nothing nicer than coming home to a tidy apartment.  Of course, that's definitely not always the case.

Although I had spent periods living away from my parents' home for co-op jobs and my first year of university, this winter I moved out for good.  It's certainly been rough on the finances, but I don't mind having less disposable cash if it means I can go wherever and do whatever I want.

Fannish tendencies: Fanfic

I luurve me some fanfic.  So far, I've only been reading it, but I have definite plans to write some in the very near future.  

Fandoms: Buffyverse, Veronica Mars

These are really the only two fandoms I'm into as far as fan stuff is concerned.  Somehow the idea of Battlestar or Heroes or Firefly fic is strange to me.  I really don't know why.

OTPs: Buffy/Angel, Buffy/Spike, Spike/Angel, Buffy/Spike/Angel, Logan/Veronica

I'm hardcore B/A AND B/S AND S/A.  I love all three of those 'ships so much; the dynamics are so different in all of them.  No wonder I 'ship all three of them together as well.

Veronica and Logan have so much snarky sexy chemistry together that it's impossible for me not to 'ship them.  Plus, I have major crushes on both Jason Dohring and Kristen Bell.

TBC...