Assorted Notes

[neadods]

Worked in Theory
That going to bed early, getting up on London time thing was just a bit bolluxed by it being pretty much impossible to stay asleep. First there was excitement inside the house (see below) and then the guys next door had a hullabaloo around the midnight-1:30 time for New Years. Since they were being pretty quiet for a New Year's Eve party *and* its the only time they get rowdy all year, there wasn't anything for it but to stare at the ceiling and give up on getting up at 4. (I did finally claw my way to groggy consciousness after I found myself dreaming my way into one of those teen scream horror movies - you know, where the awful teacher dies first and all the kids start coming back as monster zombies. Now, adventure/horror dreams aren't that rare, but a teen scream movie? Where did high school get back into the equation?)

It Came From The Kitchen
shawan_7 brought by one of those sonic mouse repellants (not half as fun as a sonic screwdriver, alas!) and we set it up for a while. Then I turned it off because I thought it was messing with my head, literally.

So last night's mouse got flushed out and froze in the open when it was bracketed by cats. Made it easy for M to catch, but after that, we've got the humane trap baited with peanut butter *and* the sonic device on. Evidence says it came from under the stove, so that's where they're set.

Although maybe putting them next to each other isn't the best tactical solution.

California Cardiff Dreamin'
Got a chatty little email from British Airways yesterday with the rules. My carry on remains the proper size, but I am not allowed to bring back Christmas crackers unless they meet certain requirements (reputable maker, in original packaging) and I can't bring them back in the carry-on at all.

I had intended to buy crackers in the after-Christmas sales, so I guess my Plan B of buying checkable luggage over there and filling it as I go is becoming a little more real. "Hendricks" of Cardiff sells luggage, it's on their website...

(No, I don't want to check luggage from here to there in the first place. I don't want the hassle at the airport, I won't be in a fixed place to retrieve it if it goes wrong, and I'm not taking that much with me anyway.)

(Thank you jonquil for this one) Somebody Slap a Muzzle on Hamilton!
Or just make some popcorn and watch her pull yet another Rice with Dear Negative Reader.

I know that when a book series that I read takes a turn I don't like I stop reading it. I put it down and I walk away, and that's that. If you're unhappy with my books, and have decided you never want to read another thing that I write; great. I mean that. Life is too short to read books you don't like, so if you're not having a good time, stop doing it. Honey, if you'd just stopped there, you'd have had some actual class and dignity left. But nnnooooooo...

I'm sure there are other books out there that will make you happier than mine. There are books with less sex in them, God knows. There are books that don't make you think that hard. Books that don't push you past that comfortable envelope of the mundane. Books with more plot. Books that don't confusing broadening a character's orifices with broadening the character's character. Books that don't push you past the stuffy rules of proper spelling and grammar.

Some people even ask for more police procedural. I want more, too. Aaaaaaand you're not writing it... why?

The arduer is a pain in my, and Anita's butt, too. Well, maybe if Anita wasn't taking it in the ass... I won't just 'fix it' because it's hard to write around. Heh, heh, she just said "hard" about the arduer. What a knee-slapping sublety. No wonder she said earlier that There are books that don't make you think that hard. Think? It's porn, my child, and when they call it "hard" they aren't reacting to the plots, which have apparently been nonexistant for years.

This is the point where I stop, though, because Laurell makes it pretty clear that she is, in fact, mentally ill. My characters are real to me in a way that makes me miss them. For God's sake, I'll be in the mall and see something, and go, "Oh, it's the perfect gift for (fill in the blank)." I've been in line with the present in my hand, before I go, "Wait, these are make believe people. I can't buy them a Christmas present." I guess I could, but there's no way to give it to them. They aren't THAT real. But they are real enough that I see things that make me think of them in the way you think of a boyfriend or a husband, or a best friend.... understand that the biggest disappoint some years is that I can't walk into the other room and hand that imaginary person a present that I know they would love.

Authors should love their characters, but when they start buying fake people real stuff, or have to throttle the impulse? Something is seriously wrong here. No wonder she thinks that authors who are still sane regard their characters as merely plot devices.

There's also the annotated version of her comic. In a caption explaining how her mystical vampire-sense works, Anita claims that she "knew vampires like some people knew horses." Given what I've heard about her relationships later on in the series, that line is frigg'n hilarious.

This guy also has a link to the crackalicious Anita Blake vs Batman smackdown that is worth its weight in downloads. And I don't say this just because I've got Wurlitzer wrapped in a Batman skin. I'm going to let the comments speak for that one: This post was better than the last Anita Blake issue, and, judging by the reviews I've heard, the last Anita Blake novel.

Comments

[boogiebabe-smap.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the link to the Anita Blake smackdowns. I loved them! Judging by the artwork included on those pages, that comic book artist has a style that's like gothic romance squared. (UGH!)

Still apologizing for giving you your first Anita Blake book.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

You needn't apologize for *that* - the first four or so were really good!