Details of the Last 2 Days

* Today I must pick up my exoskeleton, attend a wine tasting, and schedule a cake tasting. 07:00 AM July 18, 2008 from web
* They have my exoskeleton, but I can't get it until next Thursday. Curses, foiled again! 02:07 PM July 18, 2008 from web
* Phil is feeling peculiarly, which may imperil my plans for wine-tasting. 3 hrs on the bus = not worth it. 02:22 PM July 18, 2008 from web
* Anybody else want to be my date (& transportation) to a wine tasting if Phil can't go? 03:05 PM July 18, 2008 from web
* Nobody wants to go to wine thing with me. Very sad. I will never see my swimsuit again. 04:46 PM July 18, 2008 from web
* Got ride to wine thingy, hooray! 05:59 PM July 18, 2008
* Fresh garlic is sooo much stronger than cured. Too late, I think, "Eating a garlicky dish is a strategic error before a wine tasting." Oops. 06:29 PM July 18, 2008
* Will be working on editing stuff at Cahoots. First, must taste wedding cake for Chesh. Oh, the hard life I lead. 11:17 AM July 19, 2008 from web
* Naturally, I forgot my umbrella. I hope my backpack's waterproof! about 20 hours ago from Ping.fm
* And the day was going so well until we got into a car accident. http://tinyurl.com/5vl898 about 19 hours ago from Jott

Copy-pasted by me because Twitter has broken LoudTwitter. Snarly. I like using this to consolidate what would otherwise be a half-dozen or more tiny posts.

Buttercream Wedding Cakes Tasting

At chesh's request, I tasted Buttercream's wedding cakes. I'm posting here for ease of inserting photos with text. Feel free to read if you like photos and descriptions of cake, I suppose!

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Writing Log: Symbolism, Thinky, and Framework

07/18/2008 - Friday, 1/2 work at NgithOwl

"Tree of Life" Writing Log

8,887 / 80,000 (11.1%)

Words: 557
Total words: 8,887
Overused word: color (I am starting to ignore 'tunnel', 'passage' etc.)
Gratuitous word: deathtrap
Type of scene: Looking for the seamy underbelly (or crust, as it were).
Challenge(s): Getting there fast without making the pacing seem rushed.
Which gambling hell is it anyways?

He stared at the small cavern on the other side of them. The pounded-flat scrap metal coating the walls shone brilliantly in the light of the miniature red and white lanterns affixed to every surface. A girl glided by holding two syringes strapped to a tray. Her bare breasts swayed buoyantly in zero-g. A bartender in a gold cling-suit juggled bottles of alcohol as he rotated in mid-air above his bar, using arms and legs to bring the bottles back into rotation. The clatter that Leander had heard came from a spinning red-and-black roulette wheel. Forestholmers didn't usually gamble, but he recognized the equipment from his tours of duty on other worlds. Men and women in gold cling-suits floated above tables, letting cards hang in motionless streams below them.

Notes: Fish keep popping up in this story. It's very strange. They're being all symbolic 'n shit.
Other writingy stuff:
* penthius freewriting, a high-potential food tasting *of* aliens.
* posted writing log


07/19/2008 - Saturday, no work
* Redmarked chapter 2 of Vicesteed and started making editing changes. Had idea for how to make it chewier and leave unresolved some subplot/serious issues for readers to continue chewing on after they read the book (Thanks, 4th Street!). It will require adding one chapter and working in a lot of side-notes, but I think it'll be worth it. At least, it will make the thinky portion of the book more interesting. (Vicesteed has action, romance, dark, mystery, and thinky as its components, as I see it.)
* Phil & I came up with list of ten things to always be considered when writing science fiction, with one bonus. He conceded gender and sexual mores, and I stomped on energy source. He also has said I shouldn't publish this online; instead, I'm supposed to save it for when I'm a multi-book author and am giving a presentation. Really, he supports my writing for the same reason he buys lottery tickets.