Serenity Meme

Ok, feeling a bit under the bright sunny weather outside. Took this fun little quiz.

Your results:
You are Kaylee Frye (Ship Mechanic)

Kaylee Frye (Ship Mechanic) 85%

You are good at fixing things. You are usually cheerful. You appreciate being treated with delicacy and specialness.

Click here to take the Serenity Personality Quiz

Dream Script

I had a surreal dream this morning. I was watching a rough cut of a movie with my favorite actor and we were going to edit the film. He starred in the film as well. (Pretty sure this doesn't happen stretched out on the carpet in front of an old tv from the 80's with knobs and a VHS machine, but hey, dream rules). We talked about one of the scenes, which was dialogue heavy and a bit awkward.

GirlZoot showed up (but had always been there, dream rules again) with the script and I looked at the opening sequence of images, which had explanations in the script. The entire opening sequence suddenly made sense and I wasn't sure if that was a film thing or a me thing. I suddenly had a burning question. "Is there a final version of the script that matches what the final edited version of the film is?" Never got an answer. I was thinking there's always the deleted or extended scenes, they're part of the original script. Do they stay part of the script or are they marked or removed from the 'final' version? It's different from books, where the final version is it; a screenplay isn't necessarily the last word, editing and at times ad lib play such a big role. (Thank you GirlZoot and Shaych for your film commune / school rubbing off on me).

Around this time, his girlfriend showed up (but had always been there) and the four of us began discussing the film and current events and such. She had an accent, French I think, and was very sweet. They started horsing around together, doing this one leg wrapping thing that I'm pretty sure is physically impossible. They were so cute and madly happy together, my tiny pang of jealousy seemed petty. There was a bit more talking about the script but no more movie watching, just hanging out and enjoying it.

So can anyone tell me, is there a final version of the script that matches the edited film? Is it always that way? Does it depend on the screenwriter? My curiosity is piqued.

Easter Musings

Easter certainly came early this year. The official designation of when Easter occurs is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Vernal Equinox. Well, the equinox was on 3/20, the full moon on 3/21, which makes today, 3/23, Easter 2008.

Yesterday I spent a throughly enjoyable afternoon and evening with GirlZoot and her beau playing MTG and Scene-It Disney version and Dominoes. We chatted, discussed writing, and ate the most splendid nachos and strawberry shortcake (there went my diet). Must needs I get my house in a semblance of order to host the next gaming Saturday at my humble abode.

Next week is pretty busy with the Wits End Comedy on Wednesday (comedy mid week, nothing better!) and Mia's Game Night in Boulder Friday night. I love game nights, fun is had by all.

I just finished (just in the last hour or so) Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. I'm still thinking about the themes and the presentation. What price happiness?

Random event last night, it snowed. I'm not certain we were expecting snow and it certainly didn't last that long, but wet white stuff fell from the sky and got all over my car and the porch (which I dutifully shoveled last night when I got home) and has now mostly melted. Bright and sunny outside here at noontime, but I imagine still rather cold.

Enough randomness for now. Catch you later!

Happy Spring!

Hope everyone has a lovely Spring! Today was a bit quiet and a bit windy. Perfect Spring weather.

Keeps getting lighter...

Happy St Patrick's Day

I'm heading over to Mom's house for St Patrick's Day Dinner in a few minutes, so this will be a quick post.

Bowling is going well. We're all having a blast. I'm consistantly bowling over 100 and getting better at positioning the ball. Having my own shoes and ball certainly help!

I'm still working on my online class. I'm having a bit of trouble with keeping up, but I'll work on it. It's more for me than for the class anyway.

I've been composting a new story idea. I have names of characters, some plot lines, and setting, and a hook. Time travel and separate time lines. We'll see how it comes out, but I'm excited about the characters, which makes me excited about the work.

I cut off about 4 inches of my hair and had it highlighted by the lovely and talented Ursula. Still getting used to the length, but it looks cute.

Anything else I forgot?

Oh, Happy Birthday TJ and Mendel (I doubt either of you read this; best wishes nonetheless) Also, Happy Birthday (late) to Trae. I did email you on the day.

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! Having a green drink tomorrow night with Glender and TJ.

Hear Hear (Reprise)

Friday, I had my six week post op follow-up appointment with my otologist. I took the lovely hearing test, the one in the booth with the tight headphones and the little signal you push with your thumb to let them know you heard the tiny sounds they're sending.

After the test, my doctor told me about what happened in the surgery, since I hadn't seen him after. My first, second and part of my third hearing bones were all immobile. He cut off the top of the third bone (the stapes or stirrup) and the remaining part, still attached to the inner ear, moved. Then, he attached a titanium prosthesis to the remaining bone and hooked it back to the ear drum directly, with a piece of cartilage between the ear drum and the prosthesis to prevent wear. Everything was sealed up with lovely packing and I was sent home with a page full of instructions about what not to do.

After he looked at the new hearing test, he told me that what was once my bad ear had now become my good ear. I have 4 decibels better hearing in my right ear than my left now, which was 10 decibels better than he expected with a 'good' outcome. Also, the hearing in my right ear is now within the 'normal' range. I even impress myself. But really, that's pretty amazing, and I thanked him, still in a bit of shock from the good news.

Everything is still loud and he recommended using ear plugs, especially in loud places (like the bowling alley or the Bon Jovi concert). I've set my Shuffle to have a maximum volume of 50%, and am watching the volume on my mini (it has no preset). I'm still waking up in the middle of the night when one of the boys uses the litter box, but eventually I'll get used to that, especially considering the alternatives.

Overstimulation on a walk with the cat

Well, we just got back from quite an exciting ride.

I've had my AT3 pet stroller for almost two years now. Alec, loves his walks (when the weather is nice; he's not a fan of rainstorms even with the rain guard) and in the recent warm weather we went out for a long walk last week, down behind the railroad tracks and along some open space. We were out for about an hour and Alec loved it; he lay down and watched me for a while, then turned around and watched the world for a while. He's a very mellow rider.

Now, Deke, while he loves sitting in the stroller when it's just in the living room, he is a very vocal and fidgety rider. He does eventually settle down and get into the groove, but it takes several minutes of quiet, non-bumpy strolling to get to that point. This afternoon, I decided to get another long walk in before the snow expected tomorrow. Since we take turns, it was Deke's turn for a ride.

The route to the bike path is along my street, and while it's not usually very busy when I'm driving on it, every time I'm walking along it a car comes about every 45 seconds to a minute, which is loud and not happy making for Deke. However, he did stop crying and started watching out the front by the time we got to the bike path itself. As we came up to the entrance to the open space/bike path, a young kid maybe 12 or 13 came jogging off the path and ran across the street toward the houses there. He looked in a bit of a hurry for a Saturday afternoon.

I began walking down the path and a biker rolled past me at a leisurely pace. I continued, singing along to my Shuffle, when I saw the smoke. The wind was to the north east, not toward us but angled off to the left (we were walking south along the path) and a trail of grey then black smoke came wafted in the brisk breeze. I came around the corner and saw flames in the brush on the far side of the path. The biker had stopped his bike and gotten out his cell phone, which I registered just before I hit send on the 911 I had punched into the phone. I caught up with him, leaving Deke about 30 feet back on the path, and heard him talking to the dispatcher. Apparently someone had already called the fire in and the fire department was already en route. In my opinion, it was probably the kid I saw earlier in such a strange hurry. Good for him, even if he started the fire. Always good to do the right thing. Bad to start fires. Except in approved fireplaces, etc.

The biker continued on and I decided discretion was the better part of valor and I turned around, heading back home the short rather than the long way. The flames when I had come up were about 5 or 6 feet tall. By the time we turned around and left, the fire was taking over a tree that had to be 18 to 20 feet tall and shooting further up in the air. I heard the sirens as I walked back up the path. I hadn't gotten to the trail head before the firemen had cut the locks on the gate keeping motorized vehicles off the bike path so I pulled Deke over into the brush while the fire engine drove past toward the fire.

By now, Deke was pacing inside the stroller and crying a lot. It was not exactly the calm, quiet walk I had wanted for his first walk since last fall. About five minutes from home, he finally lay down in the back close to me. I saw a young couple who had pulled over and climbed onto the railroad tracks to watch the fire returning to their car. They assured me the fire was out. When we got home, Deke leapt out before I got the back door fully unzipped.

Now he's sitting back in the stroller giving himself a much needed bath after such a traumatic experience. I think he'll get over it; his memory isn't terribly long (especially when he's been told no). Next trip will be shorter and quieter, I promise.