"The difference between the right word and the almost right word..."

Holy crap, I finished a project!

2008-08-31T04:33:38Z

I am pleased as punch with how it turned out.

This thing has been in the works for a year at least (by which I mean that I bought a hoodie, fabric paint, and stencil sheets a year ago.) I tried to cut out one stencil, f-ed it up, and then forgot about it.

I free-handed the bitch. The glows were a quick solution for a mistake that I ended up liking.

Closeups of each Chakra will be posted if you're really interested. :P

So, anyone with fabric paint experience: I heat-set the paint, but I'm not sure it will stay put- am I going to have to hand wash this or can it go in the machine in cold water or what? Paint bottle gives me no answers!

chucknaked @ 2008-02-08T18:32:00

2008-02-08T23:33:07Z

Zeitgeist is originally a German expression that means "the spirit of the age", literally translated as "time (Zeit) spirit (Geist)". It describes the intellectual and cultural climate of an era. In German, the word has more layers of meaning than the English translation, including the fact that Zeitgeist can only be observed for past events.

Holy Shit

2008-02-03T15:48:14Z

These are scary. The first one is art depicting statistics, the second is about garbage in the ocean.

Running The Numbers: An American Self Portrait.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

So. I think it would be really cool if all of us reposted this, and asked everyone on our friends' lists to do so as well, and so on.
I know some people genuinely don't care about the environment, but most of us, when we see something like this, want to do something about it. The first step is making more people aware of the situation.

Art

2008-01-30T01:59:38Z

So I finally put stuff up at my DeviantArt account.

I guess it's not fanart if it's for my own fic...

2008-01-30T01:15:28Z

It's from Chapter 4 of Center of the World. Very sketchy, but I had fun with the colors.

Hmm.. That's what I get for being married.

2007-12-12T16:11:48Z

chucknaked @ 2007-12-08T18:22:00

2007-12-08T23:23:02Z

I find it hard to believe that there is no Dexter slash on the internet. I'm just not looking hard enough.

chucknaked @ 2007-12-01T19:20:00

2007-12-02T00:21:37Z

Of course it's now, with finals looming, that my brain tells me to write Dexter/Rudy fic.

Ghh.

Hmm.. no wonder I feel so weird.

2007-11-04T01:10:14Z

Your walk is:
The Result of a Ballet Accident

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

It isn't cooperating...

2007-11-04T00:05:42Z

Tseng has no regrets. It’s the only way to survive.

There was a time he thought he might not remember. In a rush of adrenaline and euphoria and power, he chose to map his actions on his skin, to fuse his history to his body so he could see it each day.

Tseng’s tattoo is the dot on his forehead. It‘s quick, inky needle in skin, no questions asked. Most people assume it’s in the Wutaian tradition- to mark the beginning of a journey or a long quest. He doesn’t correct them.

It’s his first kill. Straight through the forehead, dead center. Clean.

Meticulous.

For a few seconds Tseng can’t breathe, caught in the look of disbelief on his target’s face, that moment of absolute stillness before his blood begins to flow, before his body folds heavily to concrete.

It isn’t something he will forget.

In the mirror each morning he sees the first ooze of blood around a wound, feels his pulse strong and steady in his skull. He wonders if this is what the man felt.

He makes it a point never to find out.

Well.. it could be better, but it's a start.

2007-10-08T23:37:42Z

Tseng has no regrets. It’s the only way to survive.

There was a time he thought he might not remember. In a rush of adrenaline and euphoria and power, he chose to map his actions on his skin, to fuse his history to his body so he could see it each day. He doesn’t forget, though.

Tseng’s is the dot on his forehead. It’s quick, inky needle in skin, no questions asked. Most people assume it’s in the Wutaian tradition- to mark the beginning of a journey or a long quest. He doesn’t correct them.

It’s his first kill. Straight through the forehead, dead center. Clean.

Meticulous.

For a few seconds Tseng can’t breathe, caught in the look of disbelief on his target’s face, that moment of absolute stillness before his blood begins to flow, before his death.

In the mirror each morning he sees the first ooze of blood around a wound, feels his pulse strong and steady in his skull. He wonders if this is what the man felt.

He makes it a point never to find out.

Public Speaking class does have it's merits. Especially when my brain is melting.

2007-10-08T02:58:03Z

So I'm typing up my outline for my speech on tattooing (hooray!), doing a bit of side research on war tattoos, and particularly pledge tattoos, when it occurs to me:

Zack should have a tattoo.

I bet a lot of the Soldiers got them, back in Wutai.

Division, unit, patriotic symbols, the ShinRa logo..

But Zack wouldn't want the ShinRa logo. He'd probably do something snarky and humorously political. Possibly the international biohazard symbol (because he has to be wondering what the hell is in the mako shots,) along with his unit number and motto.

Then I thought of Special Ops, and wondered if they did something similar... Turk tattoos!

This may become something... Yes, we shall see... *plots deviously*

Susan Cooper fans...

2007-09-22T04:56:30Z

So, somehow I didn't know this until now (hooray imdb.com and random trivia from Trainspotting for leading me to this) but there is a movie of The Dark Is Rising, coming out Oct. 5th. OMFG so excited.

chucknaked @ 2007-09-10T09:03:00

2007-09-10T13:17:55Z

1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool..

Opening Credits:
Dripping Faucet - Catch 22

First Day of School:
Pictures to Prove It - The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

Falling in Love:
Irish Drinking Song- Buck-O-Nine ("Drink and drink and drink and drink and drink and drink and FIGHT!" ...Sadly true)

First Kiss:
Thank You For Not Moshing - Reel Big Fish

Trippy High Scene:
Voice in My Head '96 - Buck-O-Nine

Fight Song:
The Set Up (You Need This) - Reel Big Fish

Breaking Up:
Columbus, TX - SKAndalous All Stars

Prom:
Apathy - Skoidats

Life's just...OK:
The Ballad of Jimmy and Johnny - Rancid

Mental Breakdown:
Good Thing - Reel Big Fish

Driving:
Sick and Sad - Catch 22

Flashback:
Worldwide - Madball

Getting Back Together:
Kong at the Gates - The Misfits

Birth of Child:
Jeckyll vs. Hyde - Skoidats

At A Party:
Into Action - Tim Armstrong

Defining Moment In Life Scene:
Just a Friend - Skaos

Finale Battle:
I'm Bored - Ignite

Funeral Song:
Reflections - Mad Caddies

End Credits:
Swimming in Sand - Buck-O-Nine

chucknaked @ 2007-08-15T13:29:00

2007-08-15T17:32:01Z

And Chapter 5. This was done yesterday, and is really the end of Chapter 4, but my lover needed to do homework so I couldn't type it up. I considered doing a smutty version for AdultFanfiction in which Zack gives in to temptation... it may happen yet.

chucknaked @ 2007-08-14T21:20:00

2007-08-15T01:21:31Z

It kept growing and growing until I thought I would never finish, but it is done!
Hooray for Chater 4!

chucknaked @ 2007-08-12T06:43:00

2007-08-12T10:45:53Z

Chapter 3 is up. More to come shortly.

Disgraceful

2007-08-09T17:14:15Z

So Doug came home for lunch today... He stomped up the stairs. To be fair, you can't not stomp in combat boots, but this was clearly a pissed off stomp. I distracted him a little (have to watch the blood pressure!) and then asked what was wrong.

He's in a class right now, mandatory at this point in his career. They had a debate, in which they were asked to stand on one side of the room if they agreed with a statement, and the other if they disagreed, and then give their reasons. Now, my husband can be rather stubborn about some things, but on the whole he's a very fair and open-minded person. The only thing he really can't accept is pointless bigotry. Unfortunately, he happens to be in a class full of morons.

1st statement: "Gay people should be allowed to serve openly in the military."

Doug and two other men stand on the "agree" side of the room.
Doug's argument: "It is outright discrimination if we don't allow gay people to serve their country."

The other 14 people in the class stand on the "disagree" side. Their reasons.

"Gay people are all perverts who can't control their sexual urges."
"I don't want anyone to stare at my junk in the showers."
"Gay people are as bad as the Aryan Race hate group." Gey=NeoNazi?
And the eternal: "People don't choose to be black, but they do choose to be gay."
Personally I think it isn't a choice, but either way, people do choose their religion and they can't be discriminated against on that basis either, in the military.

Then, and this is my 'favorite', one of the men on the agree side of the room said:
"Gay people should be open in the military so we can prosecute them."

Prosecute them. Fucking. Hell. Are these people for real?

2nd statement: "Abortions should be provided at military clinics."

One woman and one man joined the agree side of the room.
Doug's reason: "Abortion is a medical procedure. Military members and dependants are getting this procedure. Regardless of any personal beliefs, this is going to continue, and these people should not be made to feel ashamed, nor should they have to seek treatment at a different (he implied 'inferior') facility. We take care of our own."

The other side of the room, paraphrased: "Abortion is evil."

3rd statement: Military members should be punished for committing adultery.

Not even going into this. Doug and I spent his lunch hour extrapolating on how people are bigoted idiots, hyper-religious (in the bad way) criminals are ruling this country, etc. Then he brought this up:

One person said, "It would make people uncomfortable to work around gay people." (Um.. you already are?)
To which the teacher responded, "Not too long ago women and black people couldn't serve in the military because it 'made people uncomfortable'. Is that right?" (a majority of the people in this class, and at this base, are black. You'd think centuries of oppression and persecution would teach people a little compassion...)
"Oh, no, of course not!"
"So how is this different?"
"Because being gay is wrong!"

And that, my friends, is the root of the issue. Like the "rock, paper, scissors, Cheney" joke going around, in which Cheney beats all, it is no use to argue. The truth is that in this country, moral arguments go like this: "Logic, Reason, Science, God." And 'God', this twisted idea that bigotry is a human fucking right if it's condoned in a few ambiguous passages of the bible (never mind contradicted in others), wins every time.

On a humorous note, Doug is going to suggest a new third statement to the teacher.
"If there were a way to test if an unborn child were going to be gay, would it be okay to abort those babies?"
If anyone says yes, he plans to ask if they'll be building gas chambers next.

Fic Progress

2007-08-08T19:19:48Z

So there I was, doing nothing (as I often do) when I realized that classes start in less than a month. I thought to myself, "Self, if I don't finish this fic now, I won't work on it again until Christmas break."
My family is coming at Christmas, so it's more likely that I wouldn't work on it until next summer, and if I don't look at it for almost a year I'll never finish it at all. That would be inexcuseable.
I made a promise to myself. (Not that I wouldn't start a fic I couldn't finish, because then I'd never write at all.) I promised that I would never post anything that I didn't have at least 90% complete.
When I posted the first chapter, I thought it was complete and I'd just have to type it up. Not so! However, I will post another chapter within a week, and hopefully the rest within the month.

So, what's there is up at ff.net.

chucknaked @ 2007-04-19T15:18:00

2007-04-19T19:20:43Z

Not a particularly well written article, but please read about Prof. Liviu Librescu.

Liviu Librescu probably had a better understanding of and appreciation for life than anyone you or I will ever know. And even so, he chose to give that up. He felt that the lives of his students were worth the cost of his own. His was an act of heroism that restored faith, that gave hope to people that dark times can be overcome. Yet he was just a man, shaped by his personal history, and to some extent his history at Virginia Tech.

Cho Seung-Hui was the name of the killer, but who will remember that? He will be known, is already becoming known, as 'the gunman', 'the murderer', 'the killer', etc. 'He was crazy', people will say, 'He wasn't normal'. 'He wasn't human,' they will mean, 'None of us could do that.' Cho Seung-Hui's actions were despicable and horrific, but they were the actions of a man. To deny that is to allow situations like his to arise again and again. He wasn't a monster. He was a person, shaped by his personal history and by his shorter history at Virginia Tech.

Most likely, none of us will ever meet people like these two. But we are all human. We shouldn't forget it.

Has a dream about high school...

2007-04-19T07:59:41Z

...in which I was making a speech to the school board about why Gay Straight Alliance should be an official school club. I don't remember much except my closing statement. Paraphrased. It was more eloquent when I was sleeping (isn't that always the way?)
"... It is ridiculous to teach tolerance and acceptance for one group of people and not for others. It is impossible to teach respect for others in a manner that excludes any portion of 'other'. In truely believing that another person has as much right to live their life as anyone else, that belief is by its very nature is all inclusive..."

Zackfic snippet

2007-03-27T20:01:34Z

He wakes up gasping. His heart is pounding like a hundred heavy booted feet marching double-time. In the white glare of the ceiling he sees vague, hazy images: winter blue eyes, a weary smile. The sour aftertaste of fear lingers in his mouth. He can’t quite remember the dream so he relaxes into his pillow.

Dust motes drift aimlessly in the warm sun seeping through the blinds. Zack glances at the clock on the nightstand. It’s 8:47. He’s up, fatigue pants yanked halfway on and staggering to the phone, running implausible scenarios through his head and preparing an apology. The dial tone is humming in his ear before he realizes it’s Saturday. The light is wrong. It should be pale and watery, or maybe grimy-orange if it’s actually 2047 and he got the am/pm dots mixed up again. He feels uncomfortable, disoriented It takes three minutes of sitting on the edge of the rock hard mattress for Zack to figure out he’s in the base hotel in Junon. He might not have realized it except the bed is oriented differently than in his (still new) first class dorm in Midgar.

He opens the drawer of the identical nightstand (need to buy new furniture, he thinks) and runs his fingertips over the smooth glossy cover of the standard issue “Guide to ___” magazine. His knuckle grazes cardboard. He pulls out the slim black box of imported Mideel cloves. They’re expensive, but he just got a raise. Zack eases his lighter out of the side of the pack. It’s cool and heavy in his palm. The metal is so battered its hard to make out the engraving from scratches, but he remembers the cactuar design well. He found the thing years ago, playing in the gritty dirt around the reactor back home. Everyone at school thought it was so damn cool. He started smoking just to live up to his own reputation. Caught hell for it from his parents too, but he never got rid of the lighter. It survived Wutai and since then he’s never gone on a mission without it.

He lights the clove, hunched over like he’s shielding the flame from a stiff breeze. The first drag is acrid. What Sephiroth would call ‘bracing’. The second is smoother, richer, he tastes sweetness behind the burn. He holds his breath, staring at the thin trickle of smoke curling blue off the glowing end.

The dream whispers out through his lips with the fear and adrenaline and smoke. It dances on the edge of his memory before dissipating. Zack closes his eyes. He sees a vivid afterimage of blue.

I really hate the second sentence. It will not do what I want it to.
Concrit please!

chucknaked @ 2007-03-14T15:00:00

2007-03-14T19:01:16Z

Hmm. The story is written. Zack-centric stream of consciousness nightmarish thing. Too bad it SUCKS BALLS. It'll have to sit for a few days so I can come back to it with a fresh perspective.

Books I want

2007-03-14T15:13:53Z

"The Coming Plague" - Superbacteria! We are due for another pandemic. I am intrigued.

"The Years of Rice and Salt" - Basically a Western civ alternate universe. What would have happened if the plague had killed off more of 14th century Europe than it did, and Islamic and Buddhist cultures took over.

"?" - Brought to mind by "Rice and Salt", but I can't remember the title. What would have happened if America lost the Revolutionary War. I might die if I don't remember what this is called. I wants it.

I am working on a fic. Kinda. It's in my head, but I'm preparing to write. Any minute now. Really.

chucknaked @ 2007-03-11T22:51:00

2007-03-12T02:52:55Z

I'm on a plateau
It's not where I belong
It's taken so many years
To figure out my way
Upon this plateau
It's all been said and done
And every time I try
The words make little sense until you're gone

And everything must change
Everything must change
Upon this plateau
The diamond sky's enough to take you miles ahead
Where the past can't ever catch us
And all your good friends
Are gathering all around
They say the time is now
And so I must resolve to say
It's just me myself again
And I'm just talking to the wall this time
It's just me myself and I
Deciding on a plan

And everything must change
Everything must change inside you now
Everything must change inside and out
Everything must change, change...
I'm on a plateau
I'm on a plateau...