The Blog

   Defying her critics...


How else are you to get an idea of scale? That is a normal 700Mb CD there. I apologise for how dark it is, but I share a room, and my sister has to sleep sometime.

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   Doesn't this look great?...


Scale: The rim of the cup is only just able to balance a normal CD. Also, if you look closely, you can see the camera reflected in the mug (well, I can anyway).
My mum bought me two coffee mugs, since she knows how much I've wanted some giant ones for a long, long time. And since I got all depressed today (no real reason, just decided I was fat and ugly and stupid and had no reason to have anything other than low self esteem), I got a present today, rather than having to wait until next week and my birthday.
Those of you with access to my webcam now get to enjoy watching Catherine drink her enormous mug of cappuccino, and then stay awake all night afterwards.

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   A little update on something...

I got bored, so I started looking for some more descriptions of the America Cares bear. First I found this:
America Cares Bear is a Care Bear who loves all the good that the United States stands for. This happy & energetic bear believes that America*s greatest strength is in caring. She likes to lead others in pitching in to help meet the needs of neighbors & strangers alike. She knows that America stands for teamwork, & that we are strongest in caring when we all work together as a team. America Cares Bear*s shooting star symbol reminds us all to lift up the red, white & blue by caring for those around us, & making our country & the world a better place.

and from the shopping site linked from the official care bears site:
Welcome the new America Cares Bear with a salute to the flag! He is the newest bear in the Care Bears family and he represents the "Land of the Free." America Cares is a salute to all those who fought for our country.

Poor little gender-confused Patriot Bear...
But finally, I thought I would leave off with something in Japanese, since I don't even speak that language very well. I did find that the name of the Puke Toy Shop was pretty appropriate to my feelings about the whole thing.

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   And catching up at last...

Here we go with the Christmas List:
a music stand from my parents.
A green christmas teddy bear from my little brother.
A dressing gown (blue) from my not-so-little brother.
1 plaster faerie and 1 crystal ball with a flower in it from my sister who is a hippie at heart.
3 care bears colouring books from santa.
miscellaneous chocolates, also from santa.
1 astronomy-themed calendar from my grandma.
20 dollars from my nana --> "While I Live" by John Marsden.
1 movie ticket voucher and 10 dollars from my uncle steve on my mum's side --> Hopefully I'll be seeing Peter Pan on Tuesday, and the money got me "The Elder Gods" by David and Leigh Eddings
1 spatula, slotted spoon, potato masher and salt and pepper shakers from my aunty carmel, also on my mum's side. She also gave me a set of 4 potato peelers.

Then the really cool stuff that deserves gushing:
"The Winter Door" by Isobelle Carmody, sequel to "Billy Thunder and the Night Gate". I've only read 5 chapters, but it rocks. From my parents.
2 SailormoonS lolly tins from my boyfriend. See photos: here and here.
2 SailormoonS DVDs from my parents! These would be the first two in this series, and I can't wait to watch them. I did play a few episodes with the dub track for my cousins during the big family christmas party, but that doesn't count. (I've also got disc 5, so I'm halfway through collecting the series.)
A shiny blue necklace from James' parents, which is gorgeous and I think I owe them hugs or something when I see them next.
"It's a very merry muppet christmas movie" DVD from my bestest friend and her boyfriend. It's a good movie, and very funny. Some bits made me laugh until I hurt.
6 shiny metallic pens, also from my Heidi. They're so nice. And they work wonderfully in the new diary she gave me, full of black paper. Apparently now I have to write her stories. I guess I'll have to work on that.
A firewire card for my computer, with three shiny ports and general sweetness. This was from my boyfriend in preparation for my last gift.

And, in case you weren't paying attention, go look again at the icon at the top. If you still can't figure out what James got me, you are an uncultured swine... *giggles*

(it's a big present, intended for christmas + birthday + valantines day + anniversaries + next christmas + every other excuse he can think of to give me a present until such time as I am no longer in awe of my wonderful toy.)

Of course, you might not realise, given that my artistic abilities aren't really that great and I was too stuffed to be that good at pixel art. In that case, I got a 10 Gb iPod, which is currently holding my 1.7Gb of music with no real difficulties. I'm planning on going through everyone else's collections to fill it up eventually, but for now, I'm rocking out to the Kill Bill vol. 1 soundtrack.

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   A few little things

Well, obviously, I have to write up Christmas. Hell, I even made a new icon to celebrate. But I think we'll get to that in a little while, as it's a gazillion degrees here, and I'm suffocating. So, I thought I'd post a few little bits and pieces that I like.
Sincerely Your's - I've been meaning to write something along these lines for ages. Having been an editor / beta reader for so many fics over the years, after a while one gets really sick of seeing all the same mistakes. Should you be wanting me to read something of yours and help you improve it, at least read this guide before you do send it, cause it'll cut out a fair chunk of the most common mistakes.
While you're at it, you could also examine the advice of the Fic Bitch, who has been an idol of mine for years now. I'm guilty of breaking her rules as much as everyone else, but at least I'm trying to change.
And if after reading those two you still want to send me your fics, go ahead. I promise I won't bite... hard.
What else?
Eh, I'll going to go bum around for a few hours, and then I'll be back to tell you all about the joys of Christmas just past.

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