| Meet Fugie |
[Dec. 5th, 2009|12:32 am] |
Last weekend Alphonse's attention was repeatedly drawn to the glass window that leads to the communal garden area outside my house. He'd attracted the notice of an apparently stray cat. A visibly cold and starving stray. After a while, since he didn't seem to be leaving, I put outside the little cat tower Alphonse never uses, for him to use as shelter. When I opened the door, he bolted away, of course, but a few minutes later I found him tucked snugly inside it. Later I spooked him again by putting some food outside, but a few seconds later he was back, wolfing it down. The next few times that I opened the door he was no longer running away. Instead I had to literally fight him off from sneaking inside.
By then I'd decided to keep him if I couldn't find any evidence that he belonged to anyone in the condo association or anywhere else in the neighbourhood, but I still couldn't just let him in. I couldn't take the risk of exposing Alphonse to fleas or other potential ailments this cat might have. So on Monday I made an appointment with the vet (the man is actually called Dr. Lizardo!) and made it there post-haste by walking under a sluggish drizzle with the kitty wrapped in a blanket. He was so weak and frail... He couldn't have given a fight if he wanted to.
He barely fought when the doctor took a blood sample right out of his freakin' jugular. He told me the blood test for feline leukemia would come in a few days, so I still had to find a way to keep the two cats separated until then. He also confirmed the cat was a He. By then I already had the perfect boy name prepared for him. I named him after a character in my book, one whose disposition and backstory is amazingly similar to his. So this cat is called Fugie. Those now reading my book will have to wait until they've reached chapter 7 to see this character.
So on Tuesday morning I left for work leaving Fugie locked in the bathroom. I came back in the evening, opened the bathroom door, only to find TWO cats rushing out, not one! Oh shit. Apparently Alphonse had somehow snuck IN when I used the bathroom in the morning and I inadvertently shut him in there with Fugie. So they'd spent their first contact with each other locked together in a tiny room for 10 hours. Ouch. Not only that but with the leukemia blood test not in yet, Alphonse may now potentially have been exposed. Of course, by then the damage had been done and there was no longer any reason to keep them apart. But needless to say I had a very tense next two days waiting for that call.
And on the day that I expected it, I fell in a stream on the way back from the fabric store and got my phone wet. But I managed to pull myself out of the water with just one arm as I kept my purchases above the water, so yay. I was then unable to use my phone while it dried in a jar of uncooked rice. I finally turned it back on today and checked my messages. Fugie's ok. And so Alphonse is, too.
If I now can just get them to get along... |
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| The date is SET |
[Nov. 30th, 2009|10:11 pm] |
As of last Friday it's now official:
I will be tendering my resignation as programmer for the Administrative Office of US Courts effective December 28th.
After that, next time I meet someone new who asks me what I do for a living, I will FINALLY be able to scream to the world in full sincerity: Writer/Costume Designer/Actor!!!
Starting in January, I'll be devoting my full attention to the printing, release and promotion of Felsic Current, including costumes of characters from it for myself and anyone else who'll agree to help me promote it at via photoshoots at cons. |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 22nd, 2009|09:58 pm] |
The briefness of this post and small nature of its scope will pale in comparison to the amount of fun cute anecdotes and accomplishments I've been criminally falling behind in retelling for the past several months, but as I now chill upon my return from Anime USA I thought I'd at least give sign of life and relate the first recent thing on my mind.
After getting off the train from Union to Penn station and walking the familiar seven blocks home, all the while still in my full Xellos costume, I was accosted by a woman whose obviously advanced state of inebriation provided a level of amusement equaled only by the rather sad state that drinking alone on a terrace on a Sunday evening can hint at.
But let's not get judgmental and on with the tale. She tried to ask me in a broken string of phrases essentially what was up with my costume, and then, as she stood in my way fondling my Xellos staff, she asked in what was probably meant as a flirtatious demeanor, "Okay, I'll let you by, but you have to say the password."
To which I slyly responded, "Ahh, the password. Well... that... is a secret!"
(... will she even remember this encounter after her hangover wears off? Will she think that purple-haired weirdo was a dream?) |
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 24th, 2009|09:37 pm] |
I blame life for zipping around the clock way too fast to let me have a stronger presence online these days (my journal, my website, etc...), but news like this MUST force one to stop and take stock...
May you rest in peace Mador, and your loved ones find serenity in the pain of your passing. I never got to see you again since I left home 10 years ago, and now I never will... I should probably blame life for that, as well, but I know deep down it's my fault for not having made a better effort.
Bien trop jeune et brillant pour partir comme ca, J-F. Moi et les chums on levera un verre pour toi a la premiere chance qu'on a. |
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| Animals |
[Jul. 13th, 2009|08:01 pm] |
I've been promising a website update for ages and the bulk of the work really is done: I actually caught up writing dozens of con reports and costume descriptions, but now I just have to actually enter them in my database and link pictures to them. Matter of an hour or two, but I just can't find even that much free time lately. Rehearsals for "The Merchant of Venice" are going well and I'm growing more and more satisfied with my role. Costuming for "Dancing Without You" is not as enthusiastic and getting impeded a bit but I'm finally starting to wrap my head around it. And the commission I'm doing for David is looking essentially all good and done, ready for Otakon.
So yeah no website but still a lot happened in the last several weeks. Perhaps among the most interesting are the two animals stories, one very good and happy, the other... alas.
( The Happy One )
( The Not-So-Happy One )
In other news, I finished writing my play, "Self, Inc." a couple of weeks ago. I took it to our 4th of July house party, where my LARPing buddies agreed to do a read-through, which was an unbelievably flattering experience. And they enjoyed it immensely, too! I took back tons of good feedback, made some modifications, added material including one whole scene, and now it's all good and ready to submit. I just don't know WHERE to submit it to now. Is the BPF really the best place?
So, yeah, no website update yet, but here's something to amuse in the meantime:
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| Felsic Shakespeare |
[May. 26th, 2009|11:40 pm] |
I was just cast as the Prince of Aragon in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice.
And as of an hour ago I completed my self-editing and re-reading of "Felsic Current". It is now officially ready for external beta-reading. |
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| At Costume-Con, No One Can Hear You Scream |
[May. 5th, 2009|11:12 pm] |
These pics aren't "officially" linked on my website yet (I still need to enter them in my database and flag everything correctly and all) but I thought I owed to post these "hidden" links here on LJ right away. Thanks for Sarah and Leigh for taking these and helping me into the costume, and to Kittenmint for bringing it to the con with me. (don't forget the motors weren't running at the time these were shot, so forgive the un-retractable mouth)
( Alien Stuff ) |
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| Master |
[May. 4th, 2009|03:51 pm] |
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As of Saturday night, if I understand the rules correctly, I am now officially a "Master-level" costume craftsman. My Alien picked up a couple of awards at Costume-con 27 last weekend. The full effect didn't hit me until just a few hours earlier, when I was sending a new updated bio to my theater company to reflect the achievement. Only then did I realize that "I'd actually pulled it off" and got a bit choked up. Not a modest reaction but no one was there to see. Pictures pending, hopefully very soon. |
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| "Wood" Cousteau approve? |
[Apr. 30th, 2009|10:25 pm] |
I'll forgo all the nightmarish running-around and waste of money involved in the past two days of trying to finish my costume and things breaking at the last minute and concentrate on something super-awesome instead.
My mother sent me these pictures of a wooden hand-made old-timey scuba diving helmet model my father's been working on for the past several months. He apparently just finished, and I'm so proud of the results for him! This truly looks absolutely awesome. My mother commented that we seem to have an idea where my creative genes come from.
( My dad's hand-made old-timey scuba helmet (2 pics) ) |
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| Awesomest restrooms |
[Apr. 28th, 2009|11:13 pm] |
Yesterday I saw the awesomest graffiti you've ever seen in a public restroom. It was aboard the MARC train. Someone had sharpied a line of hieroglyphics on the wall.
Now you have to be a mighty knowledgeable movie aficionado to get that reference, but if you've seen Roman Polanski's "The Tenant" you know how creepy restroom hieroglyphics are. Mighty props to the person who did that.
Makes you want to dress up like a woman and throw yourself out a window. Twice. |
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| Felsic Current |
[Apr. 27th, 2009|11:14 pm] |
Here's the Felsic Current dramatis personae. But try not to commit the names to memory. Part of the book's appeal (or any book, truly) is not knowing initially who's going to turn out to be a recurring main character and who isn't. If you end up recognizing names from the doodles below, that'll give it away.
The little black line by each person's head gives an indication of the character's height. The bar is more or less the 6-foot level. They've been omitted from the last page with the Raccoons because they're all kids and therefore can be assumed to be all kid-height.
Whatever hand is evidenced in each character (usually by the character holding an item) indicates the character's left- or right-handedness.
No costume description and colour scheme is provided for the Star Rats uniform because it's all the same and I would've ended up repeating the same guidelines ten times. Instead I'll later sketch a detailed pseudo-pattern of the uniform in all its details (especially since it's potentially one of the most fun garment in the whole setting).
And before anyone asks: yes, it's perfectly normal that some characters appear to have only four fingers, and others five. It's not a cartoonized quirk, it's all intentional.
( The Siegorfs, and other main players, including the single character from Beckay in the whole story. )
( The Star Rats (which also includes Precklesdough and Steiman from the previous and following page, as they didn't fit on this one)
)
( The Amadsids, also Cavendic politicians. )
( The Raccoons. )
( The map. Not definitive, and still missing other flavour names I'll later toss in there. ) |
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| Pics! |
[Apr. 26th, 2009|11:50 pm] |
I've got two long-overdue things to share: Alien progress pics and Felsic Current character designs and map.
Which should I post first? |
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| Felsic Current |
[Apr. 7th, 2009|11:54 pm] |
On this day, April 7th 2009, I wrote the last line of "Felsic Current".
Final count is: 126 000 words, 471 pages. Fairly daunting but just border-line acceptable.
Of course now begins the long process of revision and editing. I already have a page-long list of tweaks and additions I know I want to sprinkle as I re-read it. But it was still quite a thrill to know I'd written that very last line. |
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| April Fish |
[Apr. 1st, 2009|09:16 pm] |
April Fool breakdown:
- Stuck small paper fish on water cooler
- Stuck paper fish on back of Bob's jacket
- Paper fish garlands inside fridges
- Changed motivational posters in A.M.D.D. conference room (Message for "Change" became "A Vending Machine's Best Friend," message for "Risk" became "No One Can Hold Ukraine," message for "Innovation" became "Without it, Pepsi products would never change names")
- Stuck extra "Pi" button between 3rd and 4th floor inside elevator
- Replaced blank sheets with fish-printed sheets in printer
- Put a slip of paper saying "Hot" on the cold water tap and one saying "Cold" on the hot tap in the men's room
- Put a message on the inside of the door of a stall in the men's room saying "Warning: fresh paint"
- Put paper next to the letters-and-numbers buttons of the vending machine: "In the event of a bingo, collect your prize at the A.M.D.D. conference room"
- Stuck a stack of fish-shaped paper towels in the napkin dispenser in the cafeteria.
- Under the "Outgoing faxes go here" on the fax machine, added a note saying "Introvert faxes go here"
Overall a nice and productive April Fish. |
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| Richard Stanley |
[Mar. 17th, 2009|09:42 pm] |
I just have to pause my Costume-con project progress and break my unforgivable LJ-silence to comment in this most unexpected turn of events.
Out of a never-ending plight of telemarketer phone calls comes that one kind of call you always just sit there are woe about, asking "Why couldn't someone call me about this or that right now out of the blue?" Indeed, I'm sitting there and comes this call from a man who saw my profile on HollywoodNorth.com -an amateur actor and filmmaker community on which I created an account over a year ago on a whim and then promptly cast out of my mind- and tells me he wants me to be in his film!
To be the LEAD in his film!!!
The fine print:
It's not really a film, it's more like an animation. But it's not a cartoon, either. It's still photographies cycling one after the other, like a diorama of some kind, with a soundtrack of recorded dialogue, music and effects added on top. Why are they doing it this way? Because this film tells the story of the making of another film, and therefore features all the big-name celebrities that were in that film. They'll take pictures of stand-ins and then photoshop the faces of the celebrities on top.
Me, I play Richard Stanley, the estranged director of the film, and therefore my face won't be photoshopped-over. You'll actually get to see all of me. I apparently bear a great resemblance to the real-life Richard Stanley and that's the main reason I'm being selected. AND you'll see me in the same frame as such fine actors as Marlon Brando, Val Kilmer, Ron Perlman and Fairuza Balk. And my voice will be provided by someone else (the voices are already recorded I've been told), since the character has a South African accent.
This is a weird project, to be sure, but the pure randomness and fortuitousness of getting a phone call saying "We want you in our film" means I just can't possibly turn this down. Of course there's no pay, but this is yet another circle of local creative people I'm working my way into, so more doors keep opening. That's never a bad thing.
I've been looking forward to the day that I have my own entry on Imdb, and looks like this'll finally be it. |
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| Variations on Hope Party |
[Jan. 8th, 2009|09:15 pm] |
Yes I've been too busy to appear on LJ during the whole holiday period, and I blame the crew of the Trower Menarp and the Star Rats for this. My book's been eating every free moment I've had, even on vacation in Montreal. But lo: the megamonster chapter 13 is now complete and 14 is ending tonight. Only TWO chapters remain after that!! I've gone through the 100 000 words mark, and I'm up to 378 pages.
But it's devotion to my duties that actually compel me to make a quick stop on LJ now. If you're now doing anything this Saturday, come to the awesome Variations on Hope Party hosted by Run of the Mill at Theater Project.
Theater Project
45 W. Preston St.
Baltimore
20h00 until 2h00
Admission price: $10 ($5 with student ID)
There'll be a DJ, a band, some food and booze.
Please don't just read and put it aside: actually do consider coming, even if you're from out of town. Anybody can crash at my place after wards if they need to.
I'll be there in costume bugging people to buy raffle tickets for our fundraiser. |
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| NaNoWriMo Status |
[Nov. 26th, 2008|11:41 pm] |
Nano Status: 22 000 words
Days spent on it: 13
Days remaining: 4
Of course it quite looks like I'm not gonna make it, but I certainly would've if I'd started at the beginning of November instead of the middle.
But hey, who says it has to be November? The rule is write 50 000 words in a month, no? Well if I finish by December 13th then I suppose I can say I've succeeded.
Besides which, I really want to finish this book soon, plain and simple. Not only because I'm excited at the thought of it being finished, but also because I'll be overwhelmed with other theatrical projects early next year, in writing, costuming and acting. |
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| The Disc |
[Nov. 16th, 2008|10:58 pm] |
NaNoWriMo status:
After being busy with Godot and Nekocon for the first two weeks of the month, I've spent all this past weekend writing. 8000 words so far. Chapter 6 completed and almost done with 7.
Will I make it? Not certain.
Does it matter? Not really.
Last Friday I purchased over $200 worth of Terry Pratchet books. He'd better live up to the hype! But considering the friends who've been egging me on and how much they know me, I have no doubts. I also purchased the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy anthology, and the last Vampire Chronicles of the set. I'm currently well into "Memnoch the Devil" and doing much better progress than I did on "Body Thief". It'll be an act of sheer willpower to keep at these Anne Rice books while I have so much Discworld waiting for me.
Happy birthday to animalboything!!! |
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| NaNoWriMo |
[Nov. 1st, 2008|03:02 pm] |
Last night after the show (Lisa was there, but my speech wasn't at its peak. She still liked it) I got into my vampiric Louis costume (which I'd been wearing all day at work already) and walked up the street until I found a cool little club right next to the Strand Theater and met up with two of my cast/crew members. But on the way there, the following exchange happened:
Louis, walking into a familiar restaurant/bar: What do you have to drink?
Young befuddled bartender: Erm, well like fruit juice and stuff. *points to Snapples in the counter*
Louis: Anything else?
Young befuddled bartender: *points to bar*
Louis: That's it?
Young befuddled bartender: Erm, yes.
Louis: *walks out*
Fun screwing with people on Halloween. Even though none of my friends were available to hang out, I'd still say this year somewhat of a success.
Today starts NaNoWritMo. After spending the last few hours fixing up some costumes, I now intend to spend the rest of the afternoon before tonight's performance adding to my novel, which has gone sorely neglected for the past few weeks. Everything I've written so far has been on my free time at the office, but work's just been too busy lately, and with NaNoWriMo upon me I know I'll have to start writing at home if I want a chance of meeting the quota.
So, current status of Felsic Current: 6 chapters, 40 000 words
Goal for the end of November: 12 chapters, 90 000 words, with only 4 chapters to go.
And yes, that's the current never-before-released tentative name of the story. Haven't asked many opinions on it but I've started taking a liking to it. I may stick with it. |
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| More on Godot |
[Oct. 27th, 2008|09:59 pm] |
Okay, it's not that I'm getting a swelled head about this gig of mine forcing me to keep blathering about it, but I'm just totally humbled and flattered by the amount of attention it's getting, and more particularly I'm getting! This is all incredibly flattering.
This made the front page of the Baltimore Examiner Saturday:
http://www.baltimoreexaminer.com/entertainment/Good_Day_Baltimore_Theatre_Project_tackles_Godot.html
And I'm not even one of the main two characters! Why me? Wow, this is very flattering. I wish I'd gotten a hard copy of the paper, but it's a daily periodical and so by the time I sought one today they already had a new edition of course. |
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