I keep forgetting I have this Livejournal thing I can update... so used to updating my DA journal instead of my LJ...

Work is crazy. The other shelver is gone this week, so I've been pulling double duty. Thankfully this is my last work day this week -- get the next five days off. Whoo hoo!

My two older siblings are coming over for Thanksgiving -- my sister and her family from across the state, and my brother and his family from California. It's gonna be a full house this Thanksgiving, and while I'm looking forward to seeing my siblings again, NOT looking forward to the crowds. Hopefully I have a chance to escape soon...

Mom and Stepdad still haven't found jobs, and I'm getting a little frustrated. It almost feels like my mom isn't even trying. I've even brought her job applications to fill out and she hasn't bothered with them. I really want to go to school here soon, and I feel like I can't do that until someone finds a job, because I feel like I can't cut back on my work hours. *sigh*

Okay, enough ranting.
Have a good Thanksgiving, y'all.

Watched Nightmare Before Christmas with my family last night. Dang, that movie is a lot more twisted than I remember it being, but it's still clever and fun. Mom's reaction? "It was... odd. No wonder I never had an urge to see it." Ah well, she sometimes shows me movies I'm not fond of, so it evens out...

I have an idea for a fanfic -- I know, that's not news, but this one's a bit different in that I've been toying with it for nearly eight years now. I've NEVER sat on a fanfic idea for that long -- I either write them or ditch them long before that in most cases. But this idea, while it seems rather odd and I doubt can be written reasonably well, is just too intriguing to me to let go entirely.

I've decided to share this idea, in the event that I never get around to writing it. This does NOT mean I'm giving ANYONE permission to run off with the idea and write it themselves. It just means I'm sharing a possible idea with people, and am open to feedback on whether it's a workable idea or not.

The basic premise is that every fictional world ever created exists in a seperate universe from ours. Star Trek, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, Final Fantasy, Transformers... you name it, it exists in an alternate reality of some kind. Scientists have figured out how to breach the barriers seperating us from these realities, and how to let individuals from our world access these realities. Inter-reality travel isn't commonplace, but by this time it's regarded almost like the space program is today -- it's still considered "out there," but the "awesome" factor has kind of rubbed off for a lot of people.

And like any technology, someone gets the bright idea to turn inter-dimensional travel into a money-making business.

The premise of this business (it was originally called Mary Sue Inc. as a joke, but I think a name change is in order...) is that someone can pay a fee to create a fictional persona for themselves, an avatar of sorts. The avatar can be human, alien, robot, anthro, or whatever the customer desires. They can then assume the form of this avatar and use it to venture into an alternate reality and have an adventure there. The customer can also pay an annual fee to keep their avatar and keep coming back to visit other worlds and develop their character.

Of course, some people who participate in this see it as OMG SERIOUS BIZNESS, but for the most part the customers see this as a highly advanced RPG of sorts. They compare adventures, swap weapons and tips, and in general have fun. No one, however, seems to take into account that they're dealing with REAL universes here and not just a "virtual reality" scenario.

I can imagine all sorts of fun scenarios arising from this concept -- the inhabitants of these alternate realities get tired of the interference and decide to fight back, someone uncovers the conspiracy and the people in charge try to shut them up, someone discovers that breaching the barriers between worlds threatens to bring said barriers down... So far no idea has completely solidified, though.

What do people think? Try to make it work? Toss it? Sit on it a little longer and see what happenes?

Okay, I admit, I've got a bit of an ego. And like most artists and writers, I like having my ego stroked every once in awhile. Which is why I like receiving comments on my work, and don't really mind it when people do fanart of my stories. Heck, I put my name through the Search function every so often to see what comes up.

So when I visited the Comics In Disguise forums this morning to see what was up, I was floored to find someone had done an "audio-book" version of one of my stories. They basically posted a series of YouTube videos where they read the story aloud. Very cool, in my opinion.

So without further ado... I present the audio version of Beware the Fangirls!

Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV

Our girl dog, Mona, is very sick at the moment. Two evenings ago we noticed she was shaking and moving around slowly, which wouldn't be unusual for an older dog... except that Mona's only a couple years old. So yesterday Mom ran her to the vet.

The vet says he suspects what's wrong is her kidneys. They seem to be smaller than they should be for a dog of her size, and are probably deformed as well. So toxins have been building up in her body for a long time now and only now has it given her problems. I guess we shouldn't be surprisd, since our dogs have such a mixed-up family tree (we think their father is also their nephew) that we should have expected some genetic defects. But she'd been perfectly fine (if not that bright) for a long time, and this suddenly coming up is a little shocking.

Our boy dog, Chi Chi, has never been seperated from his sister before, and he keeps wandering the house looking lost and jumping into people's laps to be cuddled. Poor guy... this is hard on him too.

We'll find out today if the vet was able to get Mona's kidneys working again. I hope she's all right -- it's always hard losing a pet. Even if they're just animals, they're still part of our family.

Whee, I'm an aunt again!

Yesterday at around 1:30, my brother and sister-in-law had their first baby - a little girl, 9 pounds and 5 ounces. (BIG baby...) We were all a little worried about the delivery, since she was two weeks overdue and the doctors ended up having to deliver her by C-section, but she's perfectly fine and healthy.

Too bad my new niece and her parents live in California, or I could go over and start corrupting the child at an early age.  The geeks shall inherit the earth!

Alright, just wanted to make that announcement...

What a surprisingly beautiful book! The story is whimsical and yet strangely touching, the characters are wholly original and fascinating to get to know, and the author manages to take what could have been an absurd plot and makes it something beautiful, deftly weaving the story of every character together and developing them in the process. I love this book, and I highly recommend it.

I am, of course, talking about The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo. I've given up on Twilight after throwing it at a wall one too many times...

The Magician's Elephant takes place in the fictional European city of Baltese at the end of the seventeenth century. A young orpahn named Peter visits a fortuneteller, who tells him that his sister is alive and if he wants to find her, he must "follow the elephant." He thinks the fortuneteller is crazy -- until an elephant crashes through the roof of the city's opera house during a magician's performance. The story proceeds to follow both the elephant and all those somehow connected to her -- Peter, the magician who accidentally summoned the elephant, a noblewoman who was injured by the elephant's sudden appearance, a policeman who becomes involved in the matter, a singing beggar, a blind dog, a hunchbacked stoneworker who becomes the elephant's caretaker, and more.

The book is a short read -- it's intended for young adults, and I was able to finish it in a couple of days. But it's still well worth your time.

As for Twilight... I only made it to chapter 6 before becoming so thoroughly bored with it I gave it up for good. It's just a BORING book, like reading someone's diary. And from what I hear, it doesn't get much better as the series progresses. From now in I'll satisfy my curiousity through the Twilight Saga (Push Me Off A) CliffNotes blog -- here for the curious [link] .

I've also given up on the Transformers Trilogy -- it's just not holding my interest. I'll be donating it to the library. Hey, I'm only out four bucks...

What this means, however, is that now I'm without anything to read. Bugger. Guess I go book hunting tomorrow at work... there's got to be SOMETHING worth my time there...

Well folks, I'm probably going to regret doing this, but... I've decided to read Twilight for myself.

I know, I know, I've complained about the book before and stated I'd never read it. It just doesn't seem like something I'd enjoy reading -- I'm not overly fond of romance, and I dislike vampires. But I figure that before I can really say I hate something, I need to have a look at it for myself. Besides, I'm curious to see if this book is really as bad as some people make it out to be.

Stay tuned for updates/rants, I'll probably need to vent about this book a little as I read.

Still haven't finished my last read, The Magician's Elephant, but I'll probably finish that once I'm through with Twilight. I probably need to get back to reading The Transformers Trilogy too, but that one just isn't holding my attention for some reason. I guess I expected it to be based on the G1 cartoon, but it's turning out to be based on the comic books, seeing as it's referencing events and characters I have no knowledge of. I hate to give up on it, but at the same time, it's getting harder to keep reading.

Kinda sad when a TF book doesn't hold my attention, isn't it?

Nothing much else to report. Sorry there haven't been story updates lately -- next chapter of The Gathering Storm is still being beta-read. Will try to update when I get a chance...