Chronicles of a Sleepy Rabite

Well, more like “yesterday review”, since I blogged Saturday night!

Food:

I baked a loaf of bread yesterday. I usually don’t have much luck with traditional breads, but this one came out absolutely amazing. It’s a recipe from Cook’s Illustrated, and I had my doubts because the dough came out completely runny, and I didn’t have instant yeast (so I proofed regular yeast in the warm milk and water mixture). I’m still convinced I got the proportions wrong, but that’s okay because it was the BIGGEST loaf of bread I’ve seen in my life. The slices held up perfectly and are delicious with butter.

I also made beef paprika, and despite the extra work and cost, I’m never going back to stewing cubes ever again. I cut up a roast and it was DIVINE, and the meat shredded beautifully.

FFXI:

Got THF to 84 last night! Loving THF so much. Also got Lance Corporal on Dar (along with Karm and Anrym), and got Ithan-Yuran past the fight with the Khimara in ToAU.

Current Mood: Sleepy

Alright, so NaNoWriMo is in 14 days. That’s two weeks. And I have ZILCH.

For those of you who don’t know, I’ve been participating in NaNoWriMo — National Novel Writing Month — every year for the last three years. The goal is to write 50,000 words in 30 days… that’s 1,666 words per day for those of you who don’t want to math. It’s incredibly challenging, and you feel at the top of the world when you actually finish (even though your brain’s turned to mush by then).

Year 1 and 2 were collections of short stories, one of which I printed in hardcover and softcover (post a comment if you want details on how to get one of these hot little numbers!), and year 3 was a 50,000-word FFXI fanfic. I’m so not joking. I still love the Scholar storyline to bits and I won’t pretend otherwise.

However, for Year 4… I have nothing.

I could write The Fire Within, but I actually don’t want to use NaNoWriMo for that. Worst case, I suppose I can do it, but I can’t actually post any of it anywhere because I actually want to publish it one day. I could write that other FFXI story I wanted to write last year, but I want to do something else besides a (full 50,000) FFXI story this time.

My mind is BLANK. I maintain that playing MMOs inhibits creativity, but hey, I like them. But I seriously have zilch this time, and I like having an outline before November 1st.

I’m open to almost anything — fantasy, urban fantasy, modern, sci-fi (with restrictions — Mare Infinitum is the “sci-fi-est” take on the genre that I can handle). I do have issues writing for characters that people close to me have already established, though. (e.g. Me writing dialogue for Anrym in this story.)

So throw stuff at me. Anything. Suggest stuff with old characters, new characters, anything. Shower me with prompts. I need help in such a bad way, it’s not even funny.

• CAITSITH tallies for 09/13/09 | Conquest – 1. Windurst, 2. Bastok, 3. San d'Oria | Campaign – San d'Oria:7, Bastok: 5,Windurst: 4. #FFXI #
• This is actually pretty bad for me since the grocery sells no Maple Sugar when Sandy's in 3rd, and the Beastmen have Fauregandi… #FFXI #
• And I just bought a Woodsman's Ring… so yeah! Broke Darian is broke. #FFXI #
• @AlthalusShiva { All right! } Grats! in reply to AlthalusShiva #
• @alitak Haha. It's because I usually have the most money out of everyone in our group, so me being broke is pretty exceptional. ^^; in reply to alitak #
• @EiffelArt I've never played it either, but I have an excellent reason why I need to stay far, far away from that game.. ^^; in reply to EiffelArt #
• @EiffelArt And it's not even because Zelda games and I have a hate-hate relationship… (Zelda 2 #$%^&%^&%^…) in reply to EiffelArt #
• Huge non-contextual FFXI screenshot dump: http://is.gd/3f0q0 #
• @alitak Beautiful! You do digital really really well! <3 in reply to alitak #
• Just realized that if I'm going to fit in my Halloween costume, that I better stop drinking these stupid Iced Cappucinos. #
• Because Scholars during the Crystal War weren't drinking Iced Caps, trufax. Also, sad that it takes Halloween to get me to work out again. #
• Dear God, this day was pain. And the rest of the week will be like this, too… #
• It's only Tuesday? Ugh. #
• @dartvalince I think I'm getting the same thing… in reply to dartvalince #
• Cleric's Briault. I almost look respectable now… I was really hoping for Argute Gown instead, though. Oh well. #FFXI #
• @Anexia Thanks! I'm just missing the mitts now. ^^ in reply to Anexia #
• @roxya Thank you, thank you, THANK you for saying that. The fangirlishness was driving me bonkers. @.@ in reply to roxya #
• Trying to occupy my time during remote user upgrades by finding evidence that Erlene x Ulbrecht = OTP. Just sayin'. #FFXI #
• In the fall, the days grow shorter and daytime temperatures go down as the winter solstice approaches. #
• YOU HEAR THAT, WEATHER?! So why is it +30 degrees Celsius outside?! #
• @florenojada I'll take low teens! The "funny" part is that we're supposed to have overnight lows in the negatives next week. in reply to florenojada #
• Yay! And now I'm broke again. http://is.gd/3lZgF #FFXI #
• 13,074/40,000. Getting depressed at my SCH EXP… #FFXI #
• @roxya I just hate what they did to Zidane's voice in the EN version. He sounds like a castrated hobbit.His voice was AMAZING in the JP ver. in reply to roxya #
• @roxya Cosmos does that too! It's Shatnerism at its finest! (And it so does not suit Zidane, bite your tongue. ) in reply to roxya #
• I had a bad day. Celeste and I are going to be doing some bonding, I think. And by bonding, I do mean stab crap in the face. >.< #FFXI #
• And I apparently completely and utterly fail at soloing colibri in Ronfaure, too, even though I'm "TOTALLY" supposed to be able to. #FFXI #
• Delevelled, too. #FFXI #
• New post: DRG Soloing (or how I fail at it) http://is.gd/3oAxd #FFXI #badday #
• And then I get 4,000 exp in 20 minutes duoing with Myrna. GOD. *thud* Clearly I need to re-evaluate my levelling situation. #FFXI #
• Nope. Still can't solo the Colibri in E. Ronfaure (S) even when they're T to me. Going to poke at FoVs instead. #FFXI #
• So! Apparently PS3 update 2.70 broke my NAS' capability to stream videos to my PS3. That's just ducky. *sigh* #
• @florenojada Wait, no extra sugar at all? What brand is this? in reply to florenojada #
• Yarr, it be talk like a pirate day, matey. #
• @florenojada I like that brand. in reply to florenojada #
• @roxya Yes yes yes yes yes. Or at least, if they'd used Terra, let them use Terra AFTER the first half of the game. in reply to roxya #
• I took down a colibri! And then the next one killed me. Used full Sigil + FoV buffs. So in 3-4 levels, I'll be able to do this. #FFXI #
• I will be positive tonight, I will be positive tonight, I will be positive tonight… </mantra> #
• @serpentgod It's not only that, but the, um, Persona-summoning method in Persona 3 kinda wigged me out… in reply to serpentgod #
• Home-made nachos + instant pudding for dessert = love. #
• Hey, it's going to rain tonight. Sweet! #thinkpositive #
• Have you ever wanted to see the SCH story but won't ever level the job? Well, now you can! Now updated with AF3! http://is.gd/3t8F1 #FFXI #
• Wrong files linked on AF3. Oops. Fixed now! http://is.gd/3t8F1 #FFXI #

• Yep, Windurst lost everything in Campaign on Caitsith except for Windurst Waters. *sigh* #FFXI #
• I'm actually a lot more upset about this than I should be. Windurst always gets the short stick on this server. #FFXI #
• @EiffelArt Love in a "YAY!" sense, or love in a "oh man, is it ever worse…" sense? Caitsith is very Sandy/Bastok-centric… ^^; in reply to EiffelArt #
• 370 exp in the first Windurst Waters campaign battle on the server. Are we surprised? No. SCH gets the shaft in campaign… #FFXI #
• I'm not bitter, not at all. >.< #
• Okay, let's have some happy #FFXI stuff: I dinged SCH 72 last night! Aero IV! Errant stuff! And I can teleport as /WHM now! #
• @EiffelArt Oh wow. Bastok lost all zones about two months ago (and I was also upset!). I actually switched to Bastok for RP purposes once. in reply to EiffelArt #
• @EiffelArt If I were going to do another mission chain after I get Windurst Rank 10, it would definitely be Bastok. Sandy can kiss it. in reply to EiffelArt #
• @Anexia Thanks! #
• After getting pissed off at Campaign again, I went to try soloing. Extreme frustration, but I got slightly more exp than usual… #FFXI #
• I met a nice BLM who waited for me to be done, and I made him WTF at Alacrity + Ebullience. Hehehe. #FFXI #
• asfgjhj; Imperial Agent Rescue BLARGH. #FFXI #
• @Wtfnick Good morning! Any hangover? #
• Ding DRG 38. I think I'm past the point of no return now… #FFXI #
• @EiffelArt But but but but I'm a career mage! I only started poking DRG to relieve stress! ^^;;; #FFXI in reply to EiffelArt #
• @EiffelArt So either I'm still stressed, or I've grown to like it… hmmm. #FFXI in reply to EiffelArt #
• @Wtfnick See, that's what I said! But I'm still playing it! ^^;;;;; #FFXI #
• @florenojada Ergh. I wish I knew what to suggest, but I barely know the first thing about OSX… ;;_;; #
• @florenojada I like the quality of HP's prints (especially on their photo printers), but their drivers are the biggest pieces of crap ever.. in reply to florenojada #
• Contemplating doing GBIX. Current price on Caitsith: 308k. That's a lot of pie I need to synth. #FFXI #
• Okay, I overdosed on #FFXI this weekend, but it was worth it for relaxing. Only problems I had was with DRG soloing and the start of Promy. #
• @Wtfnick We have two people who have never done any CoP missions whatsoever, so we restarted. in reply to Wtfnick #
• New #FFXI post: http://is.gd/32jbQ #
• @florenojada Wait, what? #
• I have a cold! Anyone want it? Free delivery! #
• @florenojada That reminds me of when at this one place, they wanted to hire me as a researcher instead of a web designer, because it was… in reply to florenojada #
• @florenojada "impossible" for a French-speaking person to be good at web design, despite the job posting being for bilingual IT… in reply to florenojada #
• @ffximadine Aww. I'd send cookies? in reply to ffximadine #
• @florenojada That's pretty much what I said. I actually found this out from my then-boss about four months after I started… in reply to florenojada #
• @florenojada The manager who'd made the original comment got "let go" for unrelated reasons, though. in reply to florenojada #
• @EiffelArt Ow ow ow. ;_; in reply to EiffelArt #
• So much for levelling DRG before Dynamis. It took me 30 minutes to go 3km due to construction traffic. #
• Trying to calm down but it's not working. #
• I just got honked at for 5 minutes straight by a school bus because the lady in front of me was ignoring the no left turn sign. #
• Then after I got through (I was going straight), the bus also ignored the sign and nearly flattened a car as he burst through traffic. #
• And then I got cut off by ANOTHER school bus who burned a red light to careen in front of me. #
• Ladies and gentlemen, our future generation is in the hands of these psychos. #
• @JPGeoffrion Ugh, are you okay? Do I need to use the orbital nukes? in reply to JPGeoffrion #
• @florenojada Me too! I'm safe and sound now, and I'm not leaving the house until tomorrow. And I'm taking an alternate route tomorrow… in reply to florenojada #
• SCH Relic feet dropped for me tonight. Which is great and all, but because I only have that and hands, I… don't match anymore. #FFXI #
• This is srs bzns, y'know. Anyways, hoping body will drop in Beaucedine next week. I may look like a dork, but I'm a fashionable dork! #FFXI #
• @Wtfnick Is it sad that the first thing I noticed in the pic was the RDM in hotpants? in reply to Wtfnick #
• @Anexia Oh good, I'm not the only one LOL. ^^;;; #
• @dartvalince @stoppableforce The Windurstian one looks weird, the tree looks like a monster more than anything… ugh. Bastok looks okay… in reply to dartvalince #
• I have all the fabric for my Halloween costume. @serpentgod commented that the buttons I chose for the coat look Bastokan. I smekked him.>.> #
• Also, I think I need to suck it up and finally buy new clothes. None of my winter stuff fit anymore. #
• I guess it's a good thing — I went down a couple of sizes since last winter… but still, clothes shopping, ugh. #
• @alitak Sorry this took so long! I kinda struggled with it, but I'm glad I managed! http://is.gd/37C0I in reply to alitak #
• New story: Distraction – http://is.gd/37C0I (response from prompt from @alitak). Still taking prompts! #
• @alitak Hehe. I really didn't know how to finish it, but I'm glad you liked it! in reply to alitak #
• Got 7k solo exp on SCH tonight… and it definitely wasn't through Campaign. :3 #FFXI #
• @ffximadine Tigers in Vunkerl (S). in reply to ffximadine #
• @ffximadine 72, @18k to 73. I'm getting chain 5s on the tigers (as long as the BST doesn't path stupidly). in reply to ffximadine #
• @EiffelArt Holy toledo, wow! How long did it actually take to draw that? (I assume you sped up the video…) in reply to EiffelArt #
• Falling asleep waiting for the boat to Purgonorgo Isle… zzz… #FFXI #
• Also, that was my 1337th tweet. I LOLed. #
• YES!!! http://rabite.alcedea.net/misc/volans.png #FFXI #
• WHM/RDM, Kupoball TH isn't active on my server, and 1/1. Truly someone is smiling down on me… #FFXI #
• @EiffelArt And I'm glad you suggested that I go after it! Thank you! <3 <3 <3 in reply to EiffelArt #
• @Wtfnick Thanks~! in reply to Wtfnick #
• @alitak I'm sorry. in reply to alitak #
• Ding SCH 73! Now let's see if I can break the curse from 2 1/2 years ago… #FFXI #
• Gilsellers spamming my Twitter? Now I'm pissed. #
• Hey, @EiffelArt? I was rewatching your video and I think you'll like how many views it got. http://is.gd/3ch9E #
• OKAY OKAY I'M A BELIEVER IN HEALING BREATH ZOMG *thud* @.@ #FFXI #
• DRG 41! #FFXI #

• Cleaned the library carpet today. It takes a heck of a lot to gross me out, and let me tell you, what came out of there did… #
• @EiffelArt Hehe, will do! in reply to EiffelArt #
• @florenojada ALL RIGHT! Grats! *hug* in reply to florenojada #
• New post: http://bit.ly/sWNui #
• RT @stoppableforce: 50 better warchiefs than Garrosh (now up to 100): http://bit.ly/BZoZ1 (AFK dying of laughter) #
• @stoppableforce I totally want half a stack of Peacebloom to be my warchief. FOR THE HORDE! in reply to stoppableforce #
• @stoppableforce You make a compelling argument, sir, but I won't be swayed by the alchemical goodness! in reply to stoppableforce #
• @stoppableforce And I mean from, not by. Wait, this just in–Mr. Bigglesworth for warchief? YES. in reply to stoppableforce #
• Wait, wait, wait. Surnames in #FFXIV? I can FINALLY be Darian Cerris? WHOOO! http://tinyurl.com/nfmp5y #
• @alitak Oh burn! I take it he's sleeping on the couch tonight? Hee hee. in reply to alitak #
• Need ideas for a commission of Ithan-Yuran. So far, I've got him… knitting. (He's got clothcraft.) YEAH ACTION BABY WOOP WOOP./sigh #ffxi #
• @florenojada Is there any way they can be mailed to you? in reply to florenojada #
• @alitak Splendid! I think your creativity is well on the road to recovery! in reply to alitak #
• @EiffelArt Those jerks are sending you bills, too? The nerve of them! >.< in reply to EiffelArt #
• @EiffelArt Are you okay? in reply to EiffelArt #
• @EiffelArt But he'd eat all the candy… hee hee. ^^;;;; in reply to EiffelArt #
• @EiffelArt ;_; in reply to EiffelArt #
• @EiffelArt But but but I like the immediate updates… ^^;;; in reply to EiffelArt #
• @JPGeoffrion Oh God WHY was I drinking tea when I read that?! #
• I have the best idea for a commission EVER… but it'd cost me upwards $300 by my estimates. ARGH! http://is.gd/2PTYm #
• Been on hold with Bell for the last half hour… la la la… #
• @florenojada It was their corporate fulfillment team… And it was twangy country muzak. Ugh. @.@ in reply to florenojada #
• @EiffelArt You asked for it! E-mail sent, it's another wall of text. ^^; in reply to EiffelArt #
• @EiffelArt But I send so many walls of text that one can build a house with them! ^^;;;; in reply to EiffelArt #
• @EiffelArt Send some here~ ;;_;; in reply to EiffelArt #
• @EiffelArt Although it did get cooler here due to thunderstorm. Yay! Also, I'd love to see bats in Edmonton. in reply to EiffelArt #
• Missing: my muse. I want her back so I can finish this story. Reward if found. Totally bribable with chocolate. #
• I lost the "what's my Paypal password?" game. #
• @Wtfnick Hello! @EiffelArt sent me~ in reply to Wtfnick #
• For those of you wondering about @JPGeoffrion, it's the… er… 28th day in a row he's worked? Yeah. #
• @alitak I'll probably free write this weekend to prime myself up for #NaNoWriMo, but on that note… in reply to alitak #
• Inspired by @alitak! People, send situations and I'll write something short and sweet! FFXI and/or video game fiction preferred! #
• @Wtfnick You can NEVER have enough Canadians! Nice to meet you! in reply to Wtfnick #
• And I'm putting exclamation marks! On everything! Loud noises! (Need more tea!) #
• @Wtfnick Yep. Darian of Caitsith, purveyor of pie and goober extraordinaire. in reply to Wtfnick #
• How to stifle creativity: fighting with the cell phone provider. ARGH. #
• @Wtfnick Hee. I quit three years ago but came back in January. It's a great feeling to be back! Level sync is the best ever. #ffxi in reply to Wtfnick #
• @xkathyxrocksx Hello! I'm not spam, hehe. in reply to xkathyxrocksx #
• @JPGeoffrion Done! http://rabite.alcedea.net/2009/09/04/playtime/ #ffxi #writing in reply to JPGeoffrion #
• Okay, posted @JPGeoffrion's prompt. http://is.gd/2SJnY Anyone else? #
• @roxya How about alcohol? in reply to roxya #
• @Wtfnick Woot, good luck! /cheer in reply to Wtfnick #
• @florenojada Oh, nice! Grats! in reply to florenojada #
• @JPGeoffrion I hate you. Now I have the Lina + Amelia song from Next in my head. >.< in reply to JPGeoffrion #
• @alitak Hmm. I'll have to write this one at home, but I have a couple of ideas… it'll help me develop my ability to write descriptions! in reply to alitak #
• @alitak You're almost there! It's like NaNoWriMo, but for visual art instead of writing! in reply to alitak #
• So, apparently I can install OSX on my new Dell netbook. Should I take the plunge? #
• @kimikofurball Why? It's not illegal to install it on a PC. in reply to kimikofurball #
• @alitak Watercolour! in reply to alitak #
• @kimikofurball And what about people who install XP on a Mac? It's the same thing: no support. Doesn't mean that people shouldn't do it. in reply to kimikofurball #
• @EiffelArt We're going to go spinning into an endless loop! Aiyee! in reply to EiffelArt #
• @dartvalince LOL! Actually, Ubuntu runs extremely well on that netbook. You can even get it factory pre-installed from Dell! Go Linux! in reply to dartvalince #
• @dartvalince It's a flavour of Linux I haven't played around with, though… Last distro I used extensively is Fedora. in reply to dartvalince #
• @dartvalince Gnome was terribly buggy for me during my Fedora days… Has it gotten any better? in reply to dartvalince #
• @florenojada Arrrgh. @.@ in reply to florenojada #
• Les aventuriers de la théière perdue: la conclusion. La vie est belle. http://twitpic.com/ghevj #
• @alitak I'll probably blog about it later, but long story short, I had to buy a replacement from the US and the shipping cost $45! Ugh. in reply to alitak #
• @alitak By the way, would you prefer I write for a series you know, or does anything go? #
• @alitak Okay, I've been trying to think of which series we'd both know and I'm stumped… so you get to decide! in reply to alitak #
• Aaaaaand I caught a cold. Happy weekend! *sigh* #
• @EiffelArt *hug* Sorry, my asinine requests don't help at all… ;_; in reply to EiffelArt #
• @EiffelArt And whoever tells you that needs to be kicked in the shin. Seriously. I totally understand… in reply to EiffelArt #
• @dartvalince Well, the last time I used Linux was 10 years ago, so things HAVE to have changed… ^^; in reply to dartvalince #
• Oh NOW they acknowledge it… RT @ffxiclopedia PlayOnline: Warning Regarding Unauthorized Access http://bit.ly/ZOfZy #
• Oh for the love of… RT @mashable WordPress Attack Underway: WordPress Users Must Upgrade [ALERT] – http://bit.ly/Cu3c7 #
• Alcedea is safe, but I'm still annoyed. #
• Reading "The Pocket Muse 2" by Monica Wood while waiting for @serpentgod at the stylist. It's strangely inspiring. #
• Um. If Campaign goes as it's going right now, Windurst will fall tomorrow. !@#$%^$ #FFXI #
• Personally, fighting in W. Waters would be cool… except that Alcedea's an RP LS, and Darian will go INSANE when it falls. #FFXI #