This week's episode of Wait, Wait... Don't Tell Me features amusing references to New Moon. The first section, Who's Carl This Time, talks about the sparkly vampires at around the 6.50 minute mark. It's very funny.

I set my DVD recorder for Castle before we went to Canberra. I didn't know that Channel 7 had decided to show a double episode. So I got the first ep about the rock star, but only 15 minutes of the Halloween episodes. I AM FULL OF WOE!!

Did anyone out there record it who could burn it onto DVD for me to watch, or is there anyone who can download it to a memory stick for me? I WANT TO SEE CASTLE HUNTING VAMPIRE KILLERS. And I tried to record it and commercial tv failed me AGAIN!!

Seriously, I was a) so exhausted from all the early rising for flights/travel/hideousness of Canberra and b) so disappointed because I had been looking forward to seeing that ep SO MUCH that I had a little meltdown an sobbed like a six year old. Really, not at all cool or grown up.
This show, people, this show is made by someone who follows me around and dips into my brain at regular intervals so they can make a tv show that is tailored completely to my tastes and needs. IT IS THE SHOW OF MY SOUL.

So if you can help me see the episode 'Vampire Weekend', very very soon, I will be very grateful. Very.

For those who were interested, posted and/or donated, here is a report of the kitty Jenga, who has now had her treatment:

http://corvus93.blogspot.com/2009/11/our-recovering-patient.html

She's a very pretty cat. I will say that softly so that Petra doesn't overhear.

Tim and I went to Canberra for the weekend for my eldest brother's belated 50th birthday party. We flew back this morning. I came straight to work, Tim went home. Petra is apparently expressing her opinions on our absence to Tim in the most unequivocal manner.

I've been meaning to post this for a few days. A cartoonist friend of mine does an online strip called Doc Rat. He's just in the midst of two interesting plotlines - one of them is the Doc's romance with dentist-rat Danielle (and some secret from him past which is preventing him from making a greater commitment to her, even though he's obviously dotty about her).

The second is about one of his patients, a camel named Julian Sands, who came out a little while back when talking of his late partner. He's a lovely character, with a sweet relationship with one of the Doc's other patients, a boy called Jarrod who draws comics.

This new storyline starts when Julian staggers into the surgery, having been bashed.

We're not at the end of the story yet, but I know Jenner's writing and I am looking forward to where he takes it.

Anyway, I just wanted to share. ANd Jenner is a great artist too. (He usually draws me as a big fluffy cat and Tim as a bear. Those who have visited me at home have seen Jenner's portraits of us on the wall!)

Stacy reports that most of the money for Jenga's operation has now been raised - many thanks to my lovely flist for donating and/or passing on the message.

I love it when the power of the interwebs is used for good instead of evil. :)

ltlpengy alerted me to this relatively humble request for assistance in paying a vet bill for a very unwell Bengal kitty.

If it ain't your thing or you're broke, perhaps you could post/tweet to folks who might like to assist with a few paypal dollars?

Thanks on behalf of all the little kitties in the world...

http://corvus93.blogspot.com/2009/11/sos.html

I am listening to Alpha Dog and From Now on We Are Enemies and am in my happy place, because new Fall Out Boy songs always take me there. Not sure when I'll get the chance to watch the videos (both with and without commentaries) but I am determined enjoy the anticipation as much as the experience.

EDIT: Oh, and I'm probably completely wrong about this, because I fail at analysis of Fall Out Boy lyrics, much as I love them - but I suspect the whole song is about Michael Jackson.

Gary: I read this back at uni in the sixties.
Lissa: Really? I wouldn't have thought it was your kind of book.
Gary: It wasn't really. But Mike Walenski was really into it. He did the whole Beat thing, with the poetry and stuff.
Lissa: And Mike Walenski was...?
Gary: The coolest guy at uni. I guess... I wanted to impress him or something.
Lissa: Did it work?
Gary: Not really.
Lissa: DIdn't you connect with Kerouac?
Gary: No. I didn't even understand him most of the time.
Lissa: I really like his prose style, especially when he's writing about music. There's a real power and energy in it.
Gary: There is?
Lissa: Oh yeah, especially if you read it aloud.
Gary: Why would you do that?
Lissa: I do sometimes. Some things sound different out loud than in your head.
Gary: God yes. I say things all the time that sounded better in my head.
Lissa: (laughs) Me too. But I mean the rhythm of the language is more apparent out loud.
Gary: If you say so. Does this mean you liked the book?
Lissa: Not exactly. I mean, I like the style but not the content. Women are hardly in the book at all, unless they're there to have sex with the guys or to cook for them. And Dean and Sal are not exactly the nicest people in the world. They're always stealing stuff or taking off without any thought for anyone else.
Gary: I suppose so...
Lissa: Why didn't you like it, then?
Gary: I just thought it was a stupid way to go about seeing the country. They should have saved up and had an itinerary, you know? They should have planned.
Lissa: And that's why you didn't like it?
Gary: Yeah. Why are you laughing?
Lissa: No reason. There was something I did really like about it, though.
Gary: What's that?
Lissa: The way Dean Moriarty just ran out and threw himself at life. He might have been a bit of a crackpot and a walking train wreck and a sexist bastard, but he just flung himself at everything life had to offer and tried to experience it all. I can admire that.
Gary: (wistfully) Yeah.

*For newcomers, the GaryView is a review of books/films/TV/entertainment carried out as a conversation between Lissa Wilson (librarian) and Gary Hooper (vampire) , characters from my book 'The Opposite of Life'. Visit my website for more information.

I picked up Believers Never Die from JB yesterday afternoon. Now to find time to listen to/watch it!

I sat down to watch it this morning after taping it last night... and found only a repeat of an early episode. So. Did the current episode show up *after* this (in which case I missed it) or was I hallucinating this morning?

Tim and I went to see a one-man show at 45 Downstairs last night. A world famous concert violinist has been found dead under strange circumstances and his twin brother, his manager and his lover are all preparing for the funeral.

Chris Bunworth is amazing as these three men - his voice and physicality change completely from scene to scene. He's so good that not only is it easy to tell which of them is speaking to us at any moment, but they are all fully realised people. Between the three of them, they build the shape of the late Carl, and yet Carl remains an enigma. The direction makes great use of his talents and the space.

The script was mostly fine but tended towards cliche and could have been more tightly written.  Having said that, I think it was an interesting idea with an excellent execution, and Bunworth made it possible to ignore some of the weaknesses because he is just so damned good. There were lovely moments of humour as well as deep pathos.

Trio is on from 10-15 November at 45 Downstairs, 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne. You can buy tickets online or call 03 9662 9966. Definitely worth going to see!

Gary: It's been interesting being on Twitty...
Lissa: Twitter.
Gary: Twitter. Right. I've got some people following me and one of them sent me a ... link, is that the word?
Lissa: Yup.
Gary: It's this resin sculpture of a vampire head that you can hang on your wall.
Lissa: Don't tell me you're going to start collecting stuff for your walls now.
Gary: Not really, but this was curious. It made me wonder what my skull looks like now.
Lissa: I... see.
Gary: I've still got x-rays from before, you know, when I had the tumour. Lots of x-rays.
Lissa: Ye-e-s..
Gary: I wonder if I could get another x-ray now.
Lissa: Why?
Gary: So I can compare them. I mean, I don't think my skull shape changed much. There's just the fangs, I guess. But it would be interesting to see, don't you think?
Lissa: I suppose so.
Gary: Yeah, it would. I don't know much about the structural changes in vampire physiology. It wasn't my field and it's hard to get measurements.
Lissa: I guess it would be.
Gary: So do you reckon I could?
Lissa: Could what?
Gary: Get another skull x-ray so I can compare the new one with the old one?
Lissa: I don't know. I haven't heard of anyone just showing up and asking for random x-rays. You could pretend to have had an accident I suppose and show up in Emergency.
Gary: That's a thought...
Lissa: Though they might get alarmed if they try to give you first aid and they can't find any blood pressure. Or a pulse.
Gary: And even if I cut my head to simulate an injury, it'll just heal up again. And there won't be any blood.
Lissa: That would be hard to explain.
Gary: I'll have to think about this a bit more.
Lissa: Or you could just draw some fangs on one of your old x-rays to see the effect. I doubt your skull looks as evil as this sculpture.
Gary: Nah. It's just a skull.
Lissa: I'm sure it's a very nice skull.
Gary: <blinks> I didn't say it wasn't. It's just an ordinary run of the mill skull, that's all.
Lissa: It looks okay with your face on it, anyway.
Gary: Um. Thanks. <puzzled look persists>
Lissa: You're welcome.

*For newcomers, the GaryView is a review of books/films/TV/entertainment carried out as a conversation between Lissa Wilson (librarian) and Gary Hooper (vampire) , characters from my book 'The Opposite of Life'. Visit my website for more information.

**(Thanks to ltlpengy for the link and the suggestion to GaryView it!)

Tim and I went away to Woodend for the weekend. We really need to take a month off to sit quietly, read books and get centred, but still, it was nice to have a break. I did lots of things, including attempt to set fire to Hanging Rock, but more of that shortly.

First, I finished reading "How to Ditch Your Fairy" by Justine Larbalestier. What a terrific book too! Vivid characters - strong gals, lively guys, flawed parental figures, all facing challenges and working out how to be better people. I suppose the theme could be summarised as 'be careful what you wish for'. The world-building is terrific - it's a very clear, well laid-out universe, populated with a multicultural cast and all genders and persuasions. What's particularly good about that last part is that it's very fluid and natural and never becomes burdened by being heavy-handed and 'worthy'. I love Larbalestier's use of sophisticated vocab as slang for the students at New Avalon.  I suppose I should say what it's about. It's about a girl who has a parking fairy, and she doesn't want it. The rest of the book is her trying to divest herself of this unseen and unwanted helper, acquire a better one (like, say, a clothes-buying fairy, or an 'always has good hair' fairy), attract the attentions of the boy she likes, make the basketball team at school, stop earning demerit points and thus be able to play her other sports, and otherwise survive the school term.

I highly recommend it for everyone, everywhere.

Besides book-reading, I went to Uncle Fester's to encourage them to stock The Opposite of Life, and left with a vampire bear, pretty much because in an odd way it made me think of Gary. All day. So I had to go back and get him.

I've tweeted about the bear, and Gary, now. Well, LIssa did. (I still get very muddled in my head sometimes about who I am at moments like this) and both LIssa and Gary had a delightful exchange with chameleongirl79 about it all. :)

We stayed at a very modern studio apartment called Bella Loft, right on the main street of Woodend but tucked behind a hairdresser's, itself called Bella. So between that and the vast array of Twilight merchandise at Uncle Fester's, I had my vampire quote set for the weekend. I generally dislike cottage-craft-twee rural accommodation, so it was nice to stay in such a clean, bright modern space. I desperately needed a haircut too, and the salon did a lovely job whilst plying me with herbal tea. The stylist, Rose, bonded with me over My Chemical Romance, so I was pretty happy.

I love country bakeries too, and the local one proclaims its Award-Winning Vanilla Slice!! For the sake of science and consumer awareness and all that, I tried one. I'm drooling in an unladylike fashion while remembering it. Worth the trip to Woodend just for the vanilla slice. OM NOM NOM NOM.

We treated outselves to dinner at Zarby's on Saturday night, but started at the Holgate Brewhouse where we partook of their boutique brewery beers. Tim supped on The Hopinator which,  as the name implies, is totally butched up with hops. I can't drink really bitter, hoppy beers. Not without pulling a dreadful face. SO of course I went for a stout called The Temptress - a porter beer brewed with malt, Dutch cocoa and vanilla beans. Yes, you did read that correctly. There was a strong dark, bitter chocolate taste which worked surprisingly well. It's be nice with really rich fruit cake.

Dinner was lovely, and finished off with a very very very very nice creme brulee, though we did keep laughing because of the last episode of Beautiful People and the way Simon Doonan's teacher over-pronounced all her French words in that ep.

All around town we kept seeing people in witches' hats and other costumes, having Halloween parties and doing a spot of trick or treating. It was sweet and rather fun seeing tables of well behaved occult brethren enjoying a glass of chardy at footpath tables.

We'd suggested our friend Julia join us on Sunday for a bbq lunch, so when she arrived (by car) we drove off to Hanging Rock for a bbq. That mostly went well, except for the bit where I could smell burning long after we'd removed the meat from the barbie, only to turn around and see a roll of paper towels had unravelled and was smouldering on the top of the still very-hot bbq. And of course the item that had been weighting the paper down was... a can of spray-on canola oil. Tim pointed out that if the paper had been a more efficient wick, we could have had a neat oil explosion and horrible fire to go with it. Instead, we had smoke, charred paper and a cup of soda water thrown over the hotplate. Do you see why I insist that nature and I don't get on.

Having said that, we were in the middle of saying what a lovely place Hanging Rock would be to take international visitors, when a kangaroo with a joey, right on cue, jumped in a rather desultory fashion out of the trees and across the path to loiter in front of the visitors' centre.

Naturally our next step was to go to Mt Macedon Winery, where we sat in the sun and poached ourselves with the aid of a glass of cheeky bubbly and hobnobbed with the vineyard's resident cat and dog. We raised a toast to appreciating the good times while we have them, because you never know when they will pass.

We stayed Sunday night at the Loft and caught an early train back to the city this morning. I went straight to work while Tim came home to face the wrath of Petra. She was cared for in our absence by Liz of Lonely Pets Club (who has been caring for Petra if we have short breaks for six years now). Petra's wrath consists of alternately purring like a dynamo and face-rubbing him to death, and getting feisty and fighting his hands.

Anyway, it was a great weekend away, even though it left me feeling that what I really need is a month off. But I have returned with vampire goodies, one of my vast pile of to-read books being transferred to the 'read' pile and the lingering memory of a really excellent vanilla slice. Ahhh.

And after all my angsting, and then the character-motivation breakthrough, I finally got to rewrite that scene tonight and I think it works. I am hugely relieved.

Thank you to everyone for your words of encouragement, both on my writing blues and on the Charlaine Harris blog. You guys are awesome.

I think I may have finally unkinked the motivation in this troublesome scene. The character is furious with the wrong person. It's going to take a few minutes for them to figure out who they are mad at, and why, and then it explains *reams* of their actions in the rest of the book.

I feel a lot less gloomy, and that this is what is going on with the character. It feels fitting and right.

Oh please, muses, let this work when I sit down to write it.

I was having trouble with a scene I was reworking last night. A whole sequence of events had left a reader thoroughly pissed off with a character, and that wasn't meant to be the reaction. So I've been working it and working it, and got to a point where there's a transition. The motivation was always a bit murky, and it really needs to be clarified. I need to move from one quite extreme state to one of acceptance, and have the person not come across as a hypocrite, or have the reader dismiss it as deus ex machina.

I dreamt about it. Today I think I worked out how to unravel it.

But I'm having one of those days when I think that actually, most of the book doesn't make sense, character-wise. That everyone's motivations are screwed up and the characterisation is inconsistent and that I should just go hide under a rock.

And instead of spending the day with my head in the book trying to make this bastard scene work, I'm earning a living. That's a good thing, sure. Really.

But what my heart wants to be doing is spend time trying to be a less crap writer.

I hate days like these.