Book of Lost Nights

Firstly, I’m back from Camberwell Grove – have been since Sunday.

Secondly, no, the first draft isn’t finished. Flu spiked the first week, and job-hunting eats up more time than you’d suspect.

Thirdly, Clarissa the hamster is missing. The little smartarse worked out how to open her cage door (which is stiff and takes me some effort to open, so she must be the rodent equivalent of MacGuyver), and is now Who-Knows-Where doing Who-Knows-What.

This happened Sunday night, while I watched Up In The Air at the cinema – which was very good, incidentally, but there were a few places where I simply didn’t believe in it. The family’s constant harping on about the protagonist’s absence, leading to statements like “you don’t exist to us”, or the twist on Vera Famiglia’s character. I felt like it wanted to say something profound about relationships, but didn’t know exactly what other than a generalised “intrapersonal relationships are a good thing”.

Up In The Air (2009)

That said, I loved Anna Kendrick in it (she plays the bitchy Jessica from the Twilight movies, so her turn here was a revelation), and the stuff around his job (he flies around laying people off because their managers are “too big a pussy” to do it), and the callow and naive plan to move it all to videoconferencing with call centre responses was all perfectly done.

The loss of the Small Furriness is freaking me out a little, as there is no sign nor sound of her in the flat, and as she is a rotund, robust, and noisy little beast without much fear of people and the flat is not huge, I am pretty sure she’s not there. I’m hoping, desperately hoping, that she’s somehow been rescued and is being looked after somewhere else.

Something I’ve been longing to do for years is to catch up with all of this rather wonderful TV I simply haven’t had time to watch because I was either writing or holding down gainful employment. Battlestar Galactica is leaving me a little cold, and I’ve forgotten where I’m up to in Lost, (I understand the creators have a similar issue, but hey) but I am ADDICTED to 24. There’s something about Kiefer Sutherland doing his whispery growly thing while increasingly preposterous and dangerous things happen that just gets me right *here*.

It’s a guilty pleasure, admittedly. There is something relentlessly right-wing and simplistic about it all, with its love of torture scenes, contempt for habeas corpus, and cardboard Rent-A-Terrorists.

Season Three 24 Spoilers Ahoy!

No Comments | In: Movies, Travel, Weird, Writing | tags: 24, battlestar galactica, clarissa, france, hamster, lost, reviews, television, up in the air. | #

I’ve decided to take a leaf out of’s Caroline Hooton’s book and use the rename token I bought earlier this year for my Livejournal. I think I have carried over most of my friends, but I clicked on some stuff and Weird Things Happened, so if you were on my Friends list and are now not, then holler!

I’ve been reading Transitions by Iain Banks with some interest, as it also deals with multiversal travel and its applications to do political evil. He approaches it in a very different way from me, which is probably just a measure of how much cooler he is, but one thing I especially love is that there is this concept of “fragre” in it.

The fragre of a place being a feeling regarding its history, its depth, the amount of blood spilled in it, which you can use to orient yourself in a  place. Different places have different bouquets. Such a fantastic concept, and something that has hitherto not really had a word of its own.

So enjoying that so far.

In fact I’ve been pretty lucky with the cultural time-travel stuff this week, which is great on one level but unnerving on another – after all, the bar is pretty high. I caught Triangle at the movies last weekend.

Triangle (2009)

I didn’t have particularly high hopes after seeing the trailer (it looks like a standard slasher flick) but the Empire review made it sound like it might be a bit more interesting and I was ultimately really glad I bothered. It’s this kind of homage to “The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner”, with a dead albatross, a ghost ship, and a broken bargain, but never at any point seems overtly literary or pretentious. Some wonderful reveals in it where it is clear something has happened again and again and again… a multitude of the same lost locket visible through a grate, or a crowd of corpses of the same person, or the horror of meeting yourself and realising that one of you must die… the presentation of causality as nightmare was expertly done. I recommend it.

Today is all about more Sleepwalker – still in Hansley at present – and staying in London and chilling. May try and see The Fantastic Mr Fox later tonight.

4 Comments | In: Books, Movies, Writing | tags: authors, hamster, iain banks, london, namechange, reviews, triangle. | #

…for Hamster Boy has died.

I just got in about ten minutes ago with a plate of dinner, and noticed that he isn’t doing his usual frenzied cage climbing – his normal activity when I am carrying warm bread or fruit. I looked in and thought his cage was oddly empty – for a surreal moment, I thought he might have escaped, though that would have been impossible.

And then I spotted him curled up awkwardly in his little logtoy, one foot sticking up in the air, his eyes half-closed, and his little body cold. He’d been exceptionally wobbly recently – almost certainly he’d had another stroke a couple of days ago. He was probably wriggling about awkwardly in his toy and had another one, fatal this time. I’m unhappy this happened whilst I was out.

He may have lived a good long life – it would have been four years in January, but still I mourn him, for he was cute and fluffy and easy of temperament and small and round and fat and sweet. To be honest, every day he lives recently has been a source of surprise to me, but still… I’m not happy.

I shall eat my sandwich, and plan his funeral. Suggestions are welcome.

RIP, Meriadoc. You were an awesomely winsome little beast.

8 Comments | In: Random | tags: hamster. | #

Well, I’m on vacation, go me! I’ve spent the week walking the countryside, lazing about, and generally accomplishing very little. Well, yesterday there was a job interview in Cambridge, so we’ll see how that went. Despite leaving an hour earlier than I had to, I managed to be ten minutes late. And then they sprang a test on me. Personally, I have no idea of how it went – I have long ago given up trying to deconstruct interviews. But oh God, I want to go back to Cambridge again. I was walking through Grantchester Meadow last night as the dusk drew on and it hadn’t got any less beautiful since I’ve been away.

Tomorrow I mean to take some saved up money and go to Wiltshire, hopefully Avebury, and hang out for a day or two. I’ll walk and write and quaff pints and hopefully get some B and B in the village so I don’t have to drive anywhere.  I also want to knit. In fact, I am insanely driven to put down everything else I’m knitting and start on Dew from the last Rowan magazine. But I did declare a yarn moratorium until I knit the half dozen projects I’ve got lying about. At the moment I’m doing basic socks which are driving me mad. I’ve discovered two mistakes but am way too pissed off with tiny needles to frog back and do it again. How I’m going to find the patience to knit the other sock is anyone’s guess. That said, when I go back to my beloved Aran weight, it’s going to seem really easy and huge and go really fast.

I shall have to get Hamster Boy all cleaned out and habituated before I go. Well, at least he’s still rocking on. Even as I speak, he’s chewing frantically on the wire holding his water bottle to the side of the cage, as is his crazy little wont. Aww. Hamster Boy.

In other news, the Car of Doom passed its MOT, so I’m legal to drive it again for another year, or until it conks out, whichever comes sooner. I think we can probably bet the conking out will come sooner, but stranger things have happened.

No Comments | In: Travel | tags: avebury, cambridge, hamster, knitting. | #

1. I was told my car had a cracked head gasket. Basically it would overheat and I would open the bonnet to find all the coolant gone. It wasn’t worth spending the money to fix the car, considering its age and mileage, so I just had to wait for it to die.
2. I applied for a bunch of other jobs and spent the next three weeks fielding phone calls, doing web searches, and neglecting my writing.
3. The car continued to not die. In fact, it recovered. I’ve since been told by someone with a similar problem that the car may well take *months* to die, as it appears to have sealed the crack itself. So I’m going to have it MOT’d (the MOT runs out on the 22^nd) and if it’s not too expensive to fix the bits and pieces for that, I’m going to keep running it.
4. I went for an interview, out by Gatwick. I had to take a day off to do it in. I’ve heard nothing since. Apparently the manager is away. *Sigh*
5. My fat little Hamster Boy had a stroke. He now goes through the world tilted at a 45 degree angle to reality, with one beady black eye focussed on the ceiling, as though expecting death from the skies. He’s nearly four years old which is practically double his normal life expectancy, so it kind of figures that he’d start to malfunction. But I’m violently attached to him and not at all pleased. That said, the vet said that he could go on quite happily (albeit tilted and wobbly) for a good while yet. He’s eating and drinking happily enough, at any rate. I really ought to clean out his cage tonight. I’ve been trying to avoid stressing him, but it’s starting to smell.
6. I finally got around to sending niamh_sama‘s present off. The plan originally was to make something with my own fair hands, but it soon became apparent what with all of these shenanigans that it wouldn’t be ready for a good long while, so I caved and sent something else (apparently it’s shipped already, so if you don’t get it in a week, let me know, girl, and I’ll play merry hell with them). I addressed it to you and your maiden name, since I realised that I didn’t know Tora-Kun’s last name (you decided to take his name, in the end, didn’t you? Better let me know what it is.). But obviously it’s meant for both of you.
7. mortsleam, I feel your job woes. It’s just SO much effort for so little response. Actually, Aquent got me the Gatwick interview. I ought to ring that chick today and find out what the hell’s going on.
8. I have now finished the novel up to Chapter Four. I now know that the beginning is going to need a lot of changing, and is going to entwine both of their stories. I’ve decided that I’m going with both POVs now, as writing M-Delta’s is too much fun to say no to.
9. The laptop is STILL in the shop. Basically I just have to come and collect it. A new motherboard will cost me £280 (roughly $560) and is absolutely not worth doing. On the other hand, I could probably pick up an old one for my make off eBay for about a tenner, judging by the searches I’ve done. I’m going to have to look into it. I may buy the motherboard and get them to fit it – earn their money, in other words, which they’ve conspicuously failed to do so far.
10. I’ve booked a week off. See, I gave up smoking with this support group and apparently I’ve got to save the money for a month’s cigarettes and spend it on something nice. I’m going to spend it on a weekend away, where I can do long country walks, and write, and sit in olde worlde pubs and knit, and just generally get some time to myself after all the exceptional craziness that’s been going on. I’m thinking of going down to the New Forest, as I don’t want to eat up too much of my budget in travelling and it’s not that far away, and I might not have the car by then if the MOT proves too expensive.

1 Comment | In: Technology, Travel, Writing | tags: hamster. | #

Just had appalling conversation with man from the laptop-fixing shop. No-one will sell him the power adaptor part to fix Mr. Lappy, including Fujitsu-Siemens who made him in the first place. Apparently they *will* sell him a whole new motherboard, for an undisclosed but scary-sounding price.

My grief is boundless. I can’t afford super-expensive lappy-fixing kit right now, as I have to take the car for an MOT in two months and I’m telling you right now that that is unlikely to be a shade under £500. Mr. Lappy will have to wait.

I wouldn’t mind, but I’m still paying for the bastard thing. I bought it one of those stupid credit plans at PCWorld where you pay a footling sum of money *forever*.

So, I am destined to remain electronically elusive, at least for the time being. That said, Mel has offered to lend me a laptop – it remains to be seen if it will be compatible with my wireless access.

Boo! Hiss!

That said, my hamster, despite being three and a half years old, *still* isn’t dead yet. It could be worse.

2 Comments | In: Technology | tags: hamster. | #