D a t a L o g

To-See Movies

2009-12-28T20:54:54Z

You know, usually there is, at any given time, only one or two movies in theaters or on the "coming soon" list that I am interested in watching. Right now, that is NOT the case.

I saw The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day last night. It was excellent. I'm going to see Sherlock Holmes with torimiko in just a few hours. Expect it to be epic. (EDIT: OH MY GOD IT FUCKING WAS. PLEASETOBEWATCHINGSRSLY. I have to go find some good Watson/Holmes slash to read now. Kthnxbai.) But beyond that, there's a whole slew of movies on my list that are either already out or are coming out within the next few months. Here they are, in no particular order:

Avatar (3D), Release Date 12/18/2009 - I've heard both good and bad things about this, but I've never seen a film in 3D, and since I want to see this one anyway, I figure it's a good opportunity. Plus, even the worst reviews say that it has "incredible visual appeal," so I figure it's worth the ticket price. Otherwise, I would probably wait until it came out on DVD and watch it then.

Ninja Assassin, Release Date 12/25/2009 - This just looks stupid fun (of the over-the-top action kind). I like stupid fun. Unfortunately, I think I missed it, and I'm pretty sure it's no longer showing, so I'll have to wait for the DVD to come out.

The Book of Eli, Release Date 01/15/2010 - Denzel Washington in a post-apocalyptic dystopia. It doesn't really need anything more than that to have my attention.

Clash of the Titans, Release Date 03/26/2010 - With a tagline of "Damn the Gods," How can I not want to see this?

The Expendables, Release Date 04/23/2010 - It's another stupid fun action movie, and it's coming out right before my birthday. Plus, it has both Jason Statham and Jet Li in it. I am looking forward to the explosions.

Solomon Kane, Release Date Unknown - This movie has been out for some time in Europe, and has been shown at several film festivals here in the states, but unfortunately has not yet been picked up for US distribution. I'm hoping that a release date will come soon.

The Last Airbender, Release Date 07/02/2010 - I love the show Avatar: The Last Airbender. I am hopeful that this live-action interpretation will live up to its roots. I have heard they're planning to make three movies, one for each of the seasons/"books," so that's a good sign.

Iron Man II, Release date 05/07/2010 - OMGWTFBBQYES. I cannot wait to see this.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Release Date 05/28/2010 - I'm not sure yet if this is a must-see for me or not, but it has a setting I really like. Setting is very important to me, in movies. But I'm not sure how I feel about Jake Gyllenhaal being cast in it. I may or may not see it.

(No Trailer Yet) Jonah Hex, Release Date 06/18/2010 - Another one I'm up in the air about. Could be good, could be awful. We'll see.

Salt, Release Date 07/23/2010 - Angelina Jolie as on-the-run CIA agent. Yum.

Season of the Witch, Release Date 03/19/2010 - Another one on the "maybe" list. I'm not a big horror fan. It tends to bore me. But this looks like it could be something more along the lines of horror/fantasy-adventure, which I find far more palatable.

Legion, Release Date 01/22/2010 - Angelic extermination FOR THE WIN!! Plus, um, it's got this guy in it, and I simply adore him.

And I'm pretty sure I'm forgetting one.

All Saints Day

2009-12-28T06:54:00Z

I was incredibly disappointed when the release of this movie back on October 30 was limited to only a hundred or so theaters on the other side of the country. Thankfully, we have an AWESOME local independent cinema here, and the proprietor managed to get his hands on a copy of the film. I went and saw it this evening. It had a few moments that didn't impress me (notably, there's this dream sequence involving Rocko that's not only surreal, and poorly placed with at best a bad transition, but also totally unnecessary), but I was highly satisfied with the movie overall. It actually exceeded my expectations. Did it rely heavily on its predecessor, The Boondock Saints? Yes. But despite my usual feelings on such things, in this case I didn't find that to be annoying - it was actually nice to be privy to the little tiny jokes and references drawn from the first movie. I'll definitely have to buy it when it finally makes it out on DVD.

Scars and Nicotine

2009-12-25T13:12:30Z

Another short scene, written in that same fiction class almost two years ago. The assignment was to show an antagonistic character, then transition to another character and show the first one through the viewpoint of the second one. Main character is Rafe.

Scars and Nicotine

The brick wall is rough against the denim of Rafe’s jacket – there’s a soft scratching sound every time he moves. The cold is making the scar tissue across his face and down the side of his neck tight. It aches, an irritating counterpoint to the tedium of standing watch on an evening that’s fast promising to become longer than it is wide.

He exhales, smoke streaming from his nostrils like smog from twin exhaust pipes, then grinds the stump of his cigarette into the dirty, reddish-brown blocks behind him before dropping it onto the cement under his feet. Even without the addition of the little cancer stick, his breath is still visible in the air in front of him. He wishes he’d had more warning before this deal came up, had at least had the time to stop in at his pad and grab a better coat.

Rafe huffs in frustration, lungs filling with the chilly air, then coughs quietly and runs one hand through his shaggy brown hair. He shifts his weight, crosses his arms, then uncrosses them again a few moments later. Tugs the pack out of his jacket pocket and raps it against his palm before shaking another cigarette out into his hand. The flame of his lighter is bright, a stark contrast to the darkness around him.

To Cass, waiting in silence two blocks up the street, Rafe’s annoyance is almost palpable, sensed in countless little mannerisms – the way the man is moving, the way he’s standing, the frequency of the lighter’s flare, the angle of Rafe’s head against the bricks, the rapidity of the taps when he pulls out his pack of cigarettes. They’ve been working together on-and-off for a couple of years now, and Cass likes to think he’s gotten to know the other man as well as anyone possibly could know someone as bitter and typically close-mouthed as Rafe Pacelli.

Cass sighs and settles back against the hood of the truck he’s leaning on. Rafe’s not a nice person by any stretch of the imagination. He is a ruthless killer, mercenary in the extreme, and doesn’t give a damn about anyone but himself – his only loyalty is to the money his various employers offer him, and even they can be outbid.

Two weeks ago, a transient got in the way while they were standing guard on another job almost exactly like this one, cocaine being exchanged in the warehouse behind them – it’s heroin tonight, but the same group dealing it. The bum must’ve been camping out in the warehouse for the couple of nights beforehand, what with the weather getting steadily colder, and he’d returned again that night. Cass would have told him to bug off, maybe scared him a bit if absolutely needed. Most street people had a pretty good instinct for danger, and would take off without much urging. Rafe hadn’t been so gentle – he’d told the guy to leave, once. When the poor bum had scoffed and muttered something incoherent, Rafe had slammed his forehead into a wall a couple times. Left blood and hair smeared across the rough bricks.

The dealers hadn’t been too happy, when they’d come out so see what all the noise was about. Hadn’t liked that they suddenly had a body on their hands – in general, the bodies of weather-beaten vagrants are far less profitable and far more troublesome than bales of coke. Rafe had sneered at their concern, his tone mocking and his words just verging on scorn, and said that disposal was part of what they were paying him for. Half an hour later he and Cass dumped the corpse in the river.

Cass sometimes wonders if Rafe isn’t disrespectful to the bosses on purpose; a way of impressing on them his lack of dependency on their patronage, or perhaps making certain they know for sure how much of a hard ass he is. Then again, maybe he really is that disgusted by them. It’s hard to tell.

It seems to most people – people who don’t know him, people other than Cass - that Rafe runs purely on cigarettes and cheap liquor. Cass knows differently, though. One night, after a long escort job that had gone without so much as a hitch, Cass had diffidently asked Rafe to join him at one of the local bars, fully expecting to be refused.

Rafe had stared at him for one interminable minute, his eyes narrowed unevenly, the right one bisected and rimmed by ragged scarring, then shrugged and thrown his cigarette onto the gravel under their feet, heel grinding down on it and extinguishing the last of its dying embers. “Sure. Why the hell not? Don’t have anything better to do now that this is over.”

Cass had been hard put to keep his surprise from showing, but in the end they’d found a seedy little joint and settled in at a table in the back. After the third pitcher, Rafe had started talking. Had told Cass, in halting, absent words, almost as if he were speaking to an empty room, stopping for a while then starting again without warning or explanation, about how he’d ended up doing the dirty work of even dirtier men. About joining the military, and getting caught by shrapnel from an explosion, and spending a long time in white rooms with sterilized walls and beeping equipment. About the government deciding that he wasn’t worth the money they were putting into his treatment, and kicking him out on the curb as soon as he was considered ‘medically stable.’

Cass likes to think he can hold his alcohol, but by the time the whole sordid story was over, he was drunker than shit and Rafe – who’d been matching him pint for pint – was looking a bit glassy, but moving fine. Rafe had helped him get back to his flat, then left him on the doorstep fumbling for his keys. Rafe had disappeared without a word. When Cass finally got the door open, Monica had been less than impressed with him. She’d made a bit of a fuss about him waking up the boys, coming home that late. In the end, he’d had to sleep on the couch, which turned out for the best after all – when morning came, he was closer to the bathroom. And the toilet.

Cass has spent a long time going over that night in his head, and he’s come to the conclusion that it wasn’t the alcohol talking. Seems to him that Rafe just wanted to open up to someone, even if only a little bit, and only for a little while.

They’ve not spoken of it since, but Cass has a grudging respect for the other man now. Likes to think he understands, just a bit, why Rafe is the way he is.

Doesn’t make him any less of a hard ass, though.

Killdare Lane

2009-12-25T13:07:24Z

A short scene, written in a fiction class almost two years ago. The assignment was to...well, honestly, I don't even remember. I think it might have had something to do with deception, or with a character acting in a manner contrary to their normal behavior pattern, but I'm not sure. I don't think I've posted it on here before, and I came across it while rummaging through old folders, so here you go. Main character is Rafe.

Killdare Lane

Rafe slams his pint down, and the glass bottom hits the pitted and singed pine of the table with a solid thunk that is much louder and sharper than the sound of a bullet hitting flesh. The good Guinness of the Killdare Lane pub sloshes over the rim, a foamy amber wave of liquid oblivion lost to the expanse of abused and cherished wood. Rafe settles himself into the empty chair, his feet spread wide and planted firmly on the planks beneath. His smirk is slow, easy, and completely calculated.

The three men at the table, their card game interrupted by such an unexpected arrival, look him up and down. Their eyes dwell on the scars twisting one side of his face, the permanent down-turn to his mouth where something ripped the flesh at one corner of his lips back and it healed unevenly, the way his right eye can't open fully because of the remains of an old wound crossing it. One of them speaks after a moment, voice like gravel issuing from thick lips - he's missing a couple of teeth, and his breath hisses between them along with the words, giving the almost-impression of a lisp.

It's likely that anyone who's ever thought to suggest as much shortly found themselves meeting a rather unfortunate end.

"'Ere now, what do you want, eh?" The man's face is marked even more deeply than the table, pitted by the ravages of time and hard living - perhaps it started out as bad skin when he was a child, but it's moved far beyond that now.

Rafe's answering grin and slow stretch is as much an answer as his words. "Heard you were down a man, thought I'd see if you were interested in having someone else join your game for the night." He raises his pint and takes a long, appreciative pull of his drink. The other eyes at the table follow the movement, notice the size of the hand holding the glass and the calluses on the fingers, the way muscles shift under his military surplus jacket as his arm rises and then falls again.

Nothing in his bearing suggests that he might be the reason why their usual playmate has not arrived yet this evening. Won't be arriving anywhere, really, ever again. At least not under his own power.

There is another long moment of silence at the table, broken only by the noises of the rest of the pub, the chatter of happy people - and drunk people, occasionally but not always one and the same - enjoying a late Friday night.

The first speaker shrugs, and nods at Rafe. "As long as you have cash. I'm Mike. This here's Brody," he jerks his chin toward the blond man sitting to his left, a man with a strict crewcut who looks like he wouldn't be out of place in a military recruitment video, "and my other friend is Jay." He gestures with two fingers at the man sitting on his other side, a bruiser with slicked-back brown hair and a muscle tick in one cheek. His eye is twitching, but his gaze is steady and weighing.

Rafe takes another lazy swig of his brew. "I'm Rafael."

Rafe reaches into his pocket and pulls out his wallet, removes a couple of credit slips and plops them down on the table. There is another moment of silence as the three men finish their round, but it's slightly more companionable than the previous ones were. Mike deals, including Rafe, and they all pick up their cards, take a moment to look their hands over.

A couple hours later, all four of them have had several more pints of beer, Rafe has shared with them some tales of his adventures overseas, and they're getting along wonderfully. Mike's started laughing at tiny things, Brody's cheeks and nose are flushed, and Rafe is listening appreciatively as Jay regales them all with the story of his latest conquest.

"...and so then she looks at him, and she says 'But sweetie, you were gone on business and I couldn't fix the sink by myself! And then it sprayed water all over and of course I couldn't just leave him in those wet clothes!' And there I am, still standing there in nothing but my knickers with just one sock on, and her husband looks between us and goes 'Then where's the mess, eh?' and that's when I decided to leave," Jay finishes.

Mike laughs uproariously, spraying foam across the table - his mustache is rimmed in it, like a paint brush. A bit lands near where Rafe's hand rests on the scratched wood, but Rafe doesn't seem to notice. His eyes are closed and he's leaning back in his chair, chuckling. Even Brody is laughing softly.

Mike wipes tears from the corners of his eyes. "How do you get into these messes, eh, Jay? I've never known a man who got into half as much trouble in his entire lifetime as you do in just a year!"

Jay grins and winks at them all. "Oh, you know...it's my charm and roguish good looks."

Mike dissolves into laughter again, and they have to wait for him to get himself under control before they can continue the game.

"So you fellows have worked together for a long time, then?" Rafe asks, taking another drink of his Guinness.

Brody nods enthusiastically. "Sure have. Well, Jay and Mike and Murphy have. I only joined up with them a couple years ago."

Jay grins. "Yeah, he's the young 'un in Frank's crew."

Rafe chuckles. "Oh, I know how that feels. I've been the young one a time or two myself. You get to do all the heavy lifting, and you get none of the glory, ain't that right, Brody?"

"Oh, it's not all that bad. Frank's pretty good about treating all his boys equally, and I'm more than just a gopher in this crew," Brody says, shrugging.

Rafe nods agreeably. "That's good. Hey, who is this Frank you guys keep mentioning? I swear I've heard the name before - maybe I know him?"

Brody opens his mouth to answer, but Mike interrupts him. "That's Frank O'hare. He's our boss, runs a moving company. Good guy."

Rafe smiles and nods. "He sounds like it, especially if he treats you all as well as Brody here makes it sound!"

"Oh, he's just spot on, O'hare is. Real top-notch kind of guy. None of that fancy gentleman stuff you see in business owners these days." Jay lays out his cards. "Two pair, fives and aces."

Mike smirks. "Full house, beat that boys!" His cards hit the table with a triumphant smack.

Rafe and Brody both groan and set their own cards down. Rafe shakes his head. "I've got nothing."

Brody nods. "I had a pair of kings. So basically, nothing."

Mike is raking in his winnings when the bartender walks over to their table. "Last call was almost half an hour ago, boys. I'll see you again next week, eh Mike?"

They all grumble and moan, but start gathering up their cash - not much has really changed hands, each player winning and losing a couple times, but if anyone made a profit it was definitely Mike. They stagger up to their feet and help each other out of the bar, Jay and Rafe leaning on one another, Brody holding Mike up as the group stumbles out into the cold night air.

Jay immediately begins lamenting the long walk and the frigid weather.

"My pad's this way, boys, and I have a cabinet full of good strong drink. Only a couple blocks," Rafe offers. “We could finish playing there.”

This idea goes over wonderfully, and they begin to make their winding way up the empty sidewalk. After a couple minutes, Rafe gestures toward an alley, a dark crevice between two old brick shop fronts, both abandoned. "This way's shorter, boys. We could walk around the block, but it'll take longer."

Jay leads the way into the alley without having to be told anything more, and Mike and Brody follow. When they're well into the place, fumbling around in the dark and laughing and cursing, Rafe slips on something, on the discarded trash beneath their feet. He goes down to one knee, and Jay stops, chortling, to help him up while Mike and Brody continue on without noticing the fall, drawing a bit ahead.

Jay leans down and reaches out, but Rafe is already rising, and Jay only has time to acknowledge a sense of danger in the presence of a gun in Rafe's hand before the back of his head is blown out.

Mike and Brody turn then, wide-eyed and shouting, but they're too slow, Rafe's gun goes off twice and they both go down. Mike, like Jay, is dead with a headshot. Brody is clutching his ruined knee and cursing, fumbling for a weapon. He finds a gun in his jacket and raises it, but Rafe has walked over, kicks it out of his hand. The metal catches what small amount of light is present in the alley, an arc of silver through the air before it hits the littered concrete and skitters off across the ground to be lost in a clatter beneath some dark heap of trash.

Brody looks up, face tight with pain, as Rafe levels the barrel of his Glock at the younger man's forehead.

"Why, Rafael?"

"Someone paid me," Rafe answers, and pulls the trigger. The sound of the gun going off is far sharper and louder than that of a pint of Guinness hitting a wooden tabletop. The body buckles backwards under the force of the impact, hits the ground.

Rafe leans down, rifles through their pockets, and comes up with each man's winnings. He sticks them into his jacket, then turns and walks away through the cold night. His footsteps are steady, but he moves quickly. There is no silencer on his weapon, and while most people are smart enough not to come running at the sound of gunshots, someone might be foolish enough to come investigate.

When he's three blocks away, moving north across a bridge, he pulls a cell phone out of his pocket and dials in a number from memory. It rings only once, then someone picks up on the other end. They do not have to speak - Rafe knows from the sound of raspy breathing that he has the right number.

"It's Frank O'hare, like you thought."

"And his four bully boys?" The voice is a wheeze, harsh and threadbare.

"Taken care of."

"Good job, Rafe. Take care of O'hare next. I don't want him to pilfer from any more of my stockpiles."

"Consider it done." Rafe flips the phone closed before the man on the other end can hang up. A small gesture, rudeness minimalized when he's dealing with someone as powerful as Johnny Leone, but enough to remind the other man that Rafe is only working for him, doesn't belong to him. He knows Leone will recognize the statement, and be amused by it rather than insulted. It's a fine line to walk when you're dealing with the Italians, but Rafe has good balance.

He steps off the bridge onto the cobbled streets of the old city, heading for the place he's currently calling home, and the night swallows him whole.

In the end, no one notices the three bodies until midmorning the next day, when a delivery boy taking a shortcut stumbles over them. The fourth, a James Guillarmy, surfaces three weeks later out near the mouth of the river, bloated and swollen. His body is never identified.

The Precognist: Zsuzsa in Progress

2009-12-22T21:04:21Z

Zsuzsa is still in progress - she has no faceup, her ears are only halfway modified, and she does not yet have any body below the waist. Plus, she needs eyeballs still (I'm getting those from Van Dyke's Taxidermy Supply, but they haven't shipped yet). Nevertheless, here are a couple shots of her current state. I made the belt and wrist bangles myself, and also put all of the beads in her hair (though there are still more of those to add).

Her lower/snake half will be make using faux snakeskin vinyl and plain vinyl, in buff and cream tones, with a wire armature and an undetermined fill material (hopefully those microbeads used in squishy pillows, if I can get them). It's kind of on hold right now while I search for the right vinyl to make her underbelly, though I found the snakeskin type already.

The Precognist: List of Installments

2009-12-22T02:42:17Z

For the convenience of readers and to make my own life easier, here is a list of links to the various installments of The Precognist: or, The Society for the Invigoration of the Commonwealth, previously known as "Satyr!Crack." I will update this post every time a new section is made available online.

This piece of fiction is under a fairly closely restricted filter, so don't be surprised if you can't view any of the installments.

Installments:
Installment #1, Installment #2, Installment #3, Installment #4, Installment #5, Installment #6, Installment #7, Installment #8, Installment #9, Installment #10, Installment #11, Installment #12, Installment #13, Installment #14, Installment #15, Installment #16, Installment #17, Installment #18, Installment #19, Installment #20, Installment #21, Installment #22, Installment #23, Installment #24, Installment #25, Installment #26

Where did it go?

2009-12-10T17:08:02Z

For anyone, who hasn't seen it yet, a "suspected" bank robber tampered with (eg: destroyed) evidence by eating his demand note while the arresting officers were searching him.

Lesson Learned: Don't ever put any of the things you take off of a suspected criminal where the suspected criminal can reach them, even if you're "only setting them down for just a moment."

And, to honor the intarwebs: OM NOM NOM NOM NOM.

EDIT: Thinking about it, I wish I could be on the jury that gets to sit and watch that video in court, as part of the evidence. SO HARD NOT TO LAUGH. Judge would have to call for order. LOL.

OMG Laptop

2009-12-04T01:10:52Z

My new laptop is here, and it's so shiny. I'm getting used to the glossy surfaces. Really like the responsiveness of the keyboard (the keys have a good bounce/spring to them). Screen is good, getting used to the quirks of Windows 7, and slowly getting my default programs (Mozilla, NoScript, VLC, K-Lite, BitTorrent, etc) installed on the beast and things set up the way I like them. I still need to get a lot of my files (mostly pictures and word documents) and programs (like my copies of Adobe CS) transferred over to this machine from my old laptop, but I'm making progress. Once I've got that done, I can set about removing the busted screen from my old Toshiba and seeing about setting it up as a desktop(-ish) home computer.

Trying to decide if I want to install Word/Microsoft Office, or just use Open Office. I'm leaning toward the latter. Also need to go snag myself a copy of AVG Free, before I forget.

Also debating the pros and cons of setting up a TOR relay on this laptop. I wouldn't permit it to function as an exit node, because I'm not comfortable with that, but I'm interested in offering my bandwidth to the network. Unfortunately, I'm not sure a laptop, using as it does variable bandwidth, would be an appropriate TOR relay.

Oral Board

2009-12-02T14:51:53Z

Well, wish me luck. I've still got to shower and get dressed, but after that I hop in my car, swing by some random fast food joint to acquire breakfast, and then spend a few hours driving down to my oral board interview for the IEA position this morning.

EDIT: I passed! Thank you everyone who wished me well. ^__^ All the positive vibes and finger crossing and good thoughts seem to have done the trick.

Testify to the People

2009-12-02T01:52:53Z

Or something like that, anyway. I just spent from 08:30 AM until just after 05:30 PM in the courthouse, though they did let us leave briefly to get some lunch. Most of this time was spent sitting in a little room, or sitting in the hallway outside the courtroom, wishing I was inside the courtroom listening to what was going on. I didn't get to see any of the court proceedings. In total, I spent perhaps 25 minutes on the witness stand.

Apparently, I get paid $10 for all this, which was news to me. I thought participating in our judicial system is just one of our duties as citizens of the United States. It seems not everyone shares this viewpoint (the prosecuting attorney was surprised and overjoyed to hear me express it), and so witnesses and jurors get paid $10 a day, plus the cost of mileage (which is something like $.52 a mile) from their residence to the court.

I don't know how the case is going to be decided yet, since they're continuing tomorrow. Hoping for a conviction, of course.

New Laptop

2009-11-27T04:50:16Z

After several months of trials and tribulations with my trusty but old Toshiba, I caved in tonight and purchased a new HP. HP is not my favorite brand, but not bad, and the specs on this make up for any downsides it might have otherwise have had.

Partial Specs:

Brand: HP
Series: Pavilion
Model: dv6-1362nr
Part#: VV252UA#ABA
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
CPU Type: Intel Core 2 Duo T6600 2.2G
Screen: 15.6"
Memory Size: 4GB DDR3 (I'm dancing here.)
Hard Disk: 320GB/7200 RPM
Optical Drive: DVD Super Multi
Graphics Card: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650
Video Memory: 1024MB (Dedicated - up to 2815MB total available graphics memory) (This means more dancing on my part.)
Communication: Modem, Gigabit LAN and WLAN
Card Slot: 1 x Express Card
Dimensions: 14.90" x 10.15" x 1.33" - 1.61"
Weight: 6.34 lbs.

Meat

2009-11-26T06:42:49Z

I think I might take up eating non-fish meat again. I've been a pescetarian since 2006, but lately I've really been craving meat. I became a pescetarian because, after 4+ years in the fast food industry, I was sick and tired of smelling, seeing, and tasting meat. Obviously that's no longer the case - it doesn't disgust me anymore.

Maybe Thanksgiving will be a good day to begin rediscovering meat. Of course, jumping right into eating some turkey, I'll probably end up puking all over the place...but it certainly will be memorable.

Also, totally off-topic from the rest of this post, the LE Abadon from Luts finally shipped.

EDIT: Had some turkey last night at work (free meal for employees working on Thanksgiving). It was delicious, didn't make me at all ill, and I'm looking forward to "rediscovering" some of the other things I've not had in years.

ICE Called Again

2009-11-24T22:20:57Z

Like the title says, got another call today from ICE. I go in for my oral interview for the Immigration Enforcement Agent (IEA) position on December 2nd, at 11:00 am. It's in Seattle, so I've got a bit of a drive ahead of me. But it will be good.

Also, for anyone who hasn't heard and is curious, I didn't pass my physical fitness test. The push up section did me in - my arms are strong enough, but I need to build my chest and back muscles up more. I'm still training for the re-test, of course (and because I'm mildly disgusted with myself for not being able to do the push ups). I don't yet have a date for that, but the guy who called me today said they'll be rescheduling me for it, and not to worry. Which is nice.

To echo the battle-cry of Knight Steamswipe, "Steelbhalah-Waldo!!"

Lugh & Ghyn - Two of Three

2009-11-23T21:03:39Z

Two of the three wolf-brothers from the novella I've been on-and-off working on for a little over a year now, The Precognist, are slowly approaching the point at which they will be realized in doll-form. Many of you may remember me posting the novella under the title Satyr!Crack, back before I'd figured out what I wanted to call it. I have plans for the third brother, Raam, but so far the mold/body/resin color combination I want for him has not yet been released by the company.

I still have a lot of work to do on Lugh and Ghyn - I have to get off my ass and actually sculpt them some wolf feet, for one. And they only have one partial-set of clothing between them. But they're at least beginning to look much more like themselves.

And finally, a shot of Lugh being very in-character, but very out-of-setting-and-time-period. I love these combat vests - I bought a bunch of them a couple years ago, and was very disappointed when they were all too large for my biggest dolls. It turns out they fit the EID superhero men perfectly. Unfortunately, my wolf-brother soldiers are not from a world that includes nylon mesh and velcro.

Lost Memories

2009-11-10T08:35:07Z

Last week I made a doll-sized syringe by chopping up and then re-assembling a larger one from work! So of course, I had to photograph it, and the perfect opportunity came along in the form of the DoA "Memory" photography prompt.

Of course, being the narrative-based thinker that I am, I can't do anything without story. So there's text involved.

Call this a hypothetical, in their world. As you may or may not know, Darryl's memory structures are a bit fried, thanks to some rather invasive and repetitive memory wiping and artificial reprogramming in his past. Talon, as the CEO of a massive multinational pharmaceuticals company, has access to many experimental drugs, and the people who develop them. Maybe some day, Talon will be able to bring all that influence and money to bear on one of the largest, but often most invisible, problems in their lives.

Tekla & Jackson

2009-11-07T16:10:51Z

Finally got my camera working again (mostly). And Tekla's head came back from the faceup artist today, so I hauled the pair of them to work and took a few quick shots. These are the only two that came even close to turning out decent.

Stll Panicking :: Shooting Is Great Stress Relief :: AR15 Virginity Lost

2009-11-01T23:58:53Z

Still panicking about the test. Have been talking to my dad and (via him) some CBP and ICE agents, and it may be possible to decline the physical test and remain on the list to be scheduled for one at a later date, which would allay all my "oh God, I'm going to die" response, since it would put me back on the fitness program schedule I was expecting. Will know more on that come Monday.

In the mean time, I've been hitting the treadmill, crosstrainer, and bicycle machine (my ass is bruised from that one) like mad, and trying (thus far unsuccessfully) to do perfect form push ups. Today I got together with some of the guys from work and we went out to Smitty's farm to do some shooting, using pumpkins as targets. It was a blast, and despite the bruised shoulder (12 gauge shotgun slugs kick like a son of a bitch, and 00 buck is a bit rough, too), it was totally what I needed to blow off some steam. Push ups this week will suck, but they already sucked so no change there, really.

And I'm no longer an assault-rifle virgin. Here's a video of me shooting an AR15 for the first time ever (right click on the link and "Save As," it's about 5.7 MB, and I apologize for the shitty resolution and all that - cellphone cameras are not made for video). It was a lot of fun, and I slaughtered a pumpkin with it. (It's Aaron's gun, by the way, and Ted is the one yelling that I'm poaching on his pumpkin.)

Cue Panic

2009-10-30T22:40:30Z

I got a call from ICE today, to schedule me for my medical exam and physical fitness test. I have to take the test on November 13.

I was not expecting, based on the timeline ICE presented in their hiring packet, to take the exam until late November or early December, at the soonest. I am not ready for the step endurance test. I've been practicing, jogging and running stairs and such, but a 16-inch step is really high, especially since I'm only just under 5' 4" tall. A 16-inch step is up to my knees. DX (As a side note, the guys I work with who tested for CBP had to do a 12-inch step, and they're all at least 6 inches taller than me, several of them more than a foot taller. Not. Fair.)

I am going to have to work like CRAZY to try to get caught up by the 13th. I'll probably fail anyway, and they don't allow re-testing. If I fail, I have to start over again at the beginning of the process, waiting until the next vacancy announcement.

I guess this is a good sign, in a way - it must mean they really want to hire me. But if I fail the physical fitness test, that becomes a moot point.

I'm going to go panic some more, now.

EDIT: Looks like NaNo is probably out the window for this year. I need to focus on one thing right now.

Candid

2009-10-27T02:02:50Z

Here's a "candid" shot of Tekla (Jessica Pierrot) and Jackson (twigling's Ylisande). Jackson needs proper eyes, but at least she has a faceup in this. Tekla's head is off for a faceup now, so I've got a body with no head standing in my doll cabinet.

To NaNo, or Not To NaNo?

2009-10-22T09:17:30Z

Sorry I haven't been on LJ lately - finally got my ICE paperwork finished and submitted, so hopefully my life will be returning to semi-normal. I'll be able to go back to reading (and posting, commenting, etc) now.

I'm trying to decide if I want to do NaNoWriMo this year. I also need to get in better shape, in preparation for my impending-but-not-yet-scheduled physical fitness test for ICE. But I don't have the killer work + final quarter of school mix I had last year, and it really should be possible for me to manage it. I'm trying to get myself motivated.

I don't really feel up to tackling anything new, though, so I'd probably just continue with the Satyr!Crack, setting my current wordcount, whatever it is, as "zero" and going from there. It would be good to get myself back into writing. I've been pretty unmotivated the past...ten months or so. ^_^;;

Doll People Should Appreciate This

2009-10-22T04:57:26Z

Because if we can't make fun of ourselves, we're being too serious.

http://www.cslacker.com/images/funny/cartoons_drawings/dream_boyfriend/

I laughed so hard I think I pulled something.

IEA Notice

2009-10-08T22:38:28Z

Oh good lordy.

I got my Tentative Offer (TO) notice for the Immigration Enforcement Agent (IEA) position today in the mail. I now have a half-inch thick packet that I need to photocopy (blank) for my records, fill out, photocopy (completed) twice more for my records, and then I have to send (the completed original) back in by October 25th. Then I get to sit around some more, waiting for DHS to contact me again to schedule my urinalysis (tox screen), physical fitness test, medical exam, and interview(s). Then the background investigation happens. Then more waiting, then FLETC. Assuming I pass everything and they like me for the spot, of course.

I'd be based out of the Seattle field office, which means I'd probably be working in southern Washington or Oregon.

Meanwhile, I get to spend that "sitting around" time working out like mad so that I can pass the 5-minute, 16-inch, 96-steps-per-minute step test and the push-up test (it's not the number of push-ups that's a killer...it's the fact that they have to be FUCKING PERFECT push-ups). At least I know I can pass the kneel-stand test without any difficulty, so I don't really need to train for that.

....

I think I'm going to go do some crunches. Like...50 of them.

Sleep Deprived

2009-09-19T07:42:23Z

Awake now for 26 hours and counting, no rest periods. Have been working for 18.5 of those 26 hours. Don't get off work for another 7 hours yet, and then home and to bed for 6-7 hours, then back to work for another 16.5 hour shift.

Why do I do this to myself? D=

Oh, yeah. I have dolls and shit to finance. =D

Introducing Abigail Fletcher

2009-09-17T18:48:44Z

She's a clothes horse. I already knew that, but it's still bewildering. I've never changed a doll's clothing this much in such a short period of time. @_@ These are shots of only four of the six outfits I changed her into over the past two hours.

This dress was made for Tonner's 22" American Model. It fits her perfectly.

This one is by Apple Avenue.

And this is the default LE Hazy outfit from Elfdoll.

Here's the under-dress from the Tonner outfit, which is maybe just a tad bit long in the shoulder straps, but otherwise looks like it was tailor-made just for her.

Abigail

2009-09-16T23:01:35Z

The Elfdoll "Kio Carolei" Ruru sculpt was supposedly sold out in fall of 2008. I am so, so thankful that I was able to find a dealer that still had her in stock, and I am so, SO glad that they offered layaway. I can't believe I didn't notice her when she was initially released.

Abigail is here. This is the first time, in all of my years of doll collecting (and I may be young-ish, but I've certainly been around the hobby for a while), that I've had a doll come out of the box and be a perfect fit for their intended character. I mean, really a perfect fit. No body switching needed, no huge modifications, no new faceups. Hell, I even like the EYES she came with. I just pulled her out, pierced her ears, put her clothes on, slapped her wig and necklace and earrings on, stuck her purse on her shoulder, buckled her shoes, and BAM. Abigail. I might darken her lips up just a tad, since she's supposed to favor very red lipstick...but really, I don't think she needs it. At least not yet. We'll see if this weird made-for-this-role feeling wears off.

Darryl's being strangely silent. I think he's a bit thunderstruck, poor fellow. ~~Or possibly a bit PTSD-ish.~~ And Talon's being...well, he's being Blake, which should say it all (at least to some of you).

Abigail's already re-arranging the seating in the doll cabinets. She sure is a force of nature, sometimes. It's a shame she and Tekla never met - I think they would have had a lot to talk about.

Pictures to come. Right now I need to go to bed, as I have to be up for work in less than 6 hours and I haven't slept yet.