Well, they don’t give a crap if you’re doing your job right.

Think about it.

You walk into a cafe and place your order. You’re shown a vacant table that you promptly de-vacate, you people-watch for a while until your mochaccino and chocolate cherry cake arrives, magically, in front of you, you eat the cake and drink the coffee, leave your dishes where they are and walk away. Chances are that you won’t remember anything extraordinary about that cafe unless either the cake or the coffee were above average, and that’s because everything was done right.

Now, if you walk in, wait twenty minutes for someone to serve you, wait longer for your food and drinks to arrive, find the coffee to be cold brown water that tastes worse than it looks and your cake to be dry and – not only that – not the cake you ordered, the possibility of you remembering the cafe later is much, much higher. Granted, it would be gaining infamy not fame but press is press right?

The point I’m trying to make, though, is that when you do your job right, no one cares. When you do it wrong, people kick up a fuss. Sometimes they’ll call your superior so that they can bitch about you to someone they expect to punish you, bring your mood down and use you as a stepping stone for their own personal confidence boost, get it out of their system and leave. It’s all in a day’s work for them really. And then you go back to your own day’s work, doing things properly and getting no appreciation for it – fame or infamy – whatsoever.

What’s funny is that when you’re in that situation, complaining about being unappreciated when you’re working hard and doing a good job, you don’t realize that you yourself are taking very important things for granted. Namely, your superiors.

I work at a book store, Whitcoulls, in a busy shopping center in Auckland city. I haven’t been at the job long but I adore it. When I first started, the manager who trained the new recruits told us “this job is fun, every day is different and dynamic. Be prepared to work hard and play harder” Considering I’d worked at a book store previously – as well as the rest of the career spectrum as previously mentioned – the speech went in one ear and out the other for me. All induction speeches are like that, people need to sell the gig for employees to be willing to take it on. Saying a job is dull enough to have your braincells pitch themselves out your ears every few seconds won’t get many people psyched up to work. Funnily enough, she was right. The job is ridiculously fun, even on days when people get nasty and you’re so tired and hungry due to skipped breaks that you don’t know which way is up anymore.

In my short time working at Whitcoulls I’ve made some amazing friends and experienced some brilliant – famous and infamous – customers and customer situations. But whenever I’d need some help I’d call up a manager to put in a code, get rid of a difficult client who required a superior entity to blame for my apparent ineptitude, give me a break when I’d gotten too sick of one station or switch me out when I wanted a specific job on the floor. It always seemed so easy, push a button on your radio, whine your request down the line and, magic, it gets fulfilled. Usually. I’ve had to work a pretty hefty quota to earn the right to some leniency, but nonetheless the process was rather like utilizing a magic lamp with unlimited work-wish capacity.

Two days ago, I was offered a role as one of the supervisors for the store. I was incredibly flattered and honored, and accepted. Yesterday was my first day of training and my brain feels so full that I wish some braincells WOULD pitch themselves out of my ears if only to make room for all the information I now need to know.

It’s a funny feeling when you know, somewhere at the back of your mind, that everything the managers do is not easy, and then suddenly you are one and realize just how NOT easy the job is. On the floor you work hard and play harder – as promised – and every so often you notice the managers spending a great deal of time off the floor or generally wandering around looking important. Sometimes they do pages, sounding ridiculously professional. Because of this you come to the conclusion that until you need a manager, they just exist for the sake of looking pretty and paging so that you don’t have to. When you start training to be a supervisor – call them and managers synonymous in this case, for ease of understanding – suddenly you’re bombarded with tasks ranging from making the store look good to organizing promotions to composing your own pages, preparing spreadsheets, emailing people more important than you and taking care of a store that is worth more than you can make in a lifetime. On top of that you have to wander around and look important and page the store so that others don’t have to.

So let this be an ode to the unappreciated managers. Think about just how much they have to do when you call them up to complain about someone who happened to serve you a little slower than your magnificently busy schedule allows for. Chances are they’re run off their feet, hungry and in the middle for three or four games of email or phone tag.

All the while looking important and paging the store so that others don’t have to.

Don’t get me wrong, though, I’m very excited to be a supervisor, just that in the first four hours of my training I’ve had to remember more than I’ve learned in the month I’ve worked there as a customer service assistant and I’m worried that I’m going to forget something vital and get my ass kicked for a very good and legitimate reason. And considering how many highly respected people vouched for me to get this job, I have more to lose than just a title. Though who knows? Maybe in a few weeks I’ll be playing a few ongoing games of email tag while writing up six spreadsheets and cash counting like the best of them.

On top of that, I got my hair straightened this week, making my life just that little bit easier, and I had a fantastic photoshoot with Mack the night before last. It was Fight Club themed and I’ll link the photos on here (or a link to them in any case) as soon as the maestro allows the edited masterpieces to be viewed by the adoring public. Suffice to say that much smoke and fake blood was involved.

Songs this week:

-+- Spectrum – Florence and the Machine
-+- I Need A Doctor – Eminem
-+- Counting Bodies Like Sheep (To The Rhythm of the War Drums) – A Perfect Circle

Bandit, out.

The latter, at least, I can elaborate on.

Firstly, I now have an extra mouth to feed. It’s insatiable, hyper and possessed by at least six demons:

I am talking, of course, about my kitten. Dresden Eames Kaye Wesson. Dresden, Drez, or Drezzy for short. SHE is a motley collection of bones, skin and fluff and I love her just as much as I want to kill her most days. I’ve had her since the 1st of January and I consider her my double-luck charm. Her dad we have no idea about, most likely tabby going by her stripy markings, but her mum was a beautiful tortoiseshell kitty. And tortoiseshell kitties are lucky. Also my girl was born 11-11-11. Angel number, double lucky. She’s a pest and a menace and is currently sleeping on my left arm making it frightfully difficult to type as quickly as I’m used to.

Next up, I’m at summer school till mid February. Believe me, I don’t want to be here. However, the great U of A thinks it’s a requirement for all psych students to take a stats paper even if they plan to (and have planned their entire degree to) avoid all mathematical and specifically experiment-related papers. This, of course, makes perfect sense. Really. So for just over a month I am stuck in my own personal brand of hell.

Please, please PLEASE don’t start to a) reassure me that it’ll be ok or b) tell me that I’m blowing this out of proportion. Please. Unless you are me and I’m unaware of this fact you have no IDEA just how much I hate and do not understand mathematics, especially statistics. I get panic attacks from seeing an equation. So just 4 more bloody weeks and I can put this shit behind me and NEVER think of it again.

Thirdly, I have acquired a voice of reason in the form of yet another human being who, for A&WT purposes, is named Auto. Auto is similar enough to me to border on disturbing and I feel like I’ve known him most of my life as opposed to just over 2 months. Like with Drez, I want to hit him as much as I love him but that’s what you get for meeting a clone of yourself when you’re old enough to throw decent arguments around. Either way, Auto may or may not be making a regular appearance in this blog, just as many other aptly named friends have done so in the past. What amuses me is that he has a WP account and can comment under his own name, which would be fascinating if he ever chose to do it.

Then, we have my work situation. You know how you watch films and see the main character move to a new city to follow a completely unrealistic (in life, not Hollywood) dream of some kind – say, song writer in New York, just because – then flounder trying to find a job, eventually find one, live in debt to friends/bosses/parents/enemies as they attempt to settle in before MAGICALLY and miraculously hitting it big, making tons of money, getting the guy – or girl – paying off all debts and becoming famous the end cue credit roll?

I think I’m in the middle of that right now… I have a good job, I love the place and the people, but I hate the tiny amount of hours I get to work there. Unless I can get more hours, or unless my request for a student allowance goes through MAGICALLY and miraculously by next week I may or may not be potentially homeless. No, that’s a lie, I’ve enough saved up to live here for at least another month before shit gets real, but the reality of the shit is looming and it worries me. Here’s hoping I hit my montage soon and start paying off debts and hitting it big. I have hope, though, things are looking up. It’s just taking a long time to establish myself and the nearness of being completely and utterly broke with a furry fluffy baby to feed is kinda daunting.

Finally, and by no means less importantly, I have goals for the year that I plan to set into motion and follow through on. Not just the ones that fell under my new years resolutions that I listed in my last entry, but very long-term ones that I’m really excited to succeed in. And succeed I will, because I may not be academically excellent but I am stubborn to a fault and I’ll damn well push through. Making these goals achievable and setting them out properly has taken a lot of work though, and has sent me into cosine waves of emotion at certain points, hence it makes the list.

Besides that, I’ve changed my layout again. Call me strange, but I tend to absorb a character’s mannerisms and their way of being if I have them in front of me to model off of. Eames was fitting for the start of the year, so he’s my header-man for at least 3 months. Also it will remind me that I have to finish Ya’aburnee by May to get the paperback copies of my book… really need to get my ass into gear with that. Also, the links I used to post at the bottom of my entries have gotten a slight revamp and there is no longer a huge verbose waterfall surrounding them. Easy find, easy click. If something or someone deserves an extra mention they’ll get it.

And that, my friends and followers, is that for the time being. I’ll try to write weekly again, now that I’ve kicked my ass into gear and gotten back in the mood to, but I make no promises. I’m not on postaweek this year like I was in 2011. Chances are I will write a lot though, this year is looking to be extremely exciting, with many new people, films, experiences and developments looming. So… if you’ve stuck with me so far, it may be all worth it this year.

Songs this week:

-+- Come Home – OneRepublic
-+- Lovesong – Adele
-+- Coming Undone – Korn

Bandit, out.

Also potentially the end of this blog.

For those who care, or pay attention, I haven’t been blogging for the last two weeks. A few people asked me about it, one person asked me twice, in person, at work… you know who you are. And I always wonder just WHY people read this for as long as they did? It honestly can’t be interesting enough for people to actually ask why I’m not posting…

It started out as a way to kick my muse into gear for writing, progressed through a year of employed-but-non-studying angst and dawned on 2011, a year of study and change. And now this is my 100th post and I honestly have no idea if I’ll keep this blog up. Or maybe I just needed the two-week hiatus before diving back in again, who knows?

I don’t have a topic for this entry beyond summing up the year and attempting to predict the future. Lochinvar wrote an entry today about New Years resolutions so I thought I might include some of those. Maybe sum up my year for myself more than for others as I doubt I’ll write this in my journal and I have a tendency to forget things I don’t write down. As usual with A&WT you don’t have to read this, or comment at all; although well-wishing for the New Year will be returned in kind.

1. My family and I adopted an adorable chihuahua puppy in February, and she’s now grown to be a beautiful fluffy dog of nearly 13 months.

2. I moved in with flatmates and have been supporting myself for the first time in, well, ever.

3. I got a job that I love with people that interest me. And although I complain till I’m blue in the face about how much my feet hurt or just how much I hate waking up for the 7am shift, I tend to go home grinning at the end of every day because the people there honestly make me happy.

4. I entered NaNoWriMo for the first time and “won”, making word count on time and gaining a voucher for 5 paperback copies of my manuscript once it’s fully complete. When that will be I can’t quite give an exact estimate, but I can guarantee that it will be done before I lose my chance to use my voucher. So May at the latest. Updates will still be posted as they’re written on my Ya’aburnee page.

5. I started university this year studying for a double major in psychology and English linguistics. I won’t lie, I have no idea where this will take me (if anywhere) but I loved the classes and learned enough to keep my brain from atrophy. Although I have to say, despite making some of my closest friends in Russian class, I am so happy I never have to take that class again. Ever.

6. I finally started reading a series that two of my very close friends have been pestering me about for months. Jack longer than Master Four but the latter was perhaps more persistent being in the same country and all. Either way I damn you both for getting me hooked.

7. I’ve acquired enough books to overflow three bookshelves and pile up around my room and I’m in the process of deciding if it’s worth me spending the time to physically build a bookshelf for myself or furnish my room in pre-made, pre-loved bookshelves and cover my entire wallspace with them.

8. Despite this being a very trying year, it’s also been a year where I have been truly happy. Too long to explain or go into detail; if you know you know, if you don’t… I’ll settle for you being happy for me from afar.

1. I will lose weight. Yep, the ultimate female resolution every year and one that I’ve never actually stuck with but hell, why not attempt to wish it upon myself? Besides I have incentive to want to look good this coming year.

2. Finish and proof read Ya’aburnee before the deadline and get feedback before the final manuscript is sent out in May.

3. Read all the books I’ve been meticulously buying myself in the last few weeks. Not a huge task, only 19 of them.

4. Stop meticulously buying books for myself for at least a few weeks of this year.

5. Save money is a bit of a stretch, but “put money aside in case rent sneaks up on you again” might work.

6. Write more. I want to enter NaNoWriMo again in 2012 and I need an idea!! I keep scribbling things down as I think them up but nothing’s bitten me on the ass like Ya’aburnee did this year. Who knows, maybe another trip to the Coromandel is in order?

7. Roadtrip as much and as often as possible. Meaning I want to explore the entire North Island by the time it hits New Years’ Eve next year, and possibly parts of the South also. By car, that is, not by tour. The best places are discovered by getting lost.

8. Expand my range. In reading, music, writing, socializing and anything and everything in between.

9. Concentrate on studying when it’s time to study, on friends when there’s a need for me to be social, and on food when it’s time for dinner. I have to learn to stop wolfing down my meals in 5 minutes flat… I need to enjoy what I’m eating!!

10. Live in the moment.

I’ll leave it at 10 before it gets down to the nitty gritty pickings. I’m good with 10 things.

-

So, considering this will be the last entry before 2012, I want to wish everyone a good coming year with success and fun and epiphanies, good movies and music, delicious food and brilliant company. And, above all things, love.

All the best and much love, perchance see you in the new year if you still follow this blog then… adieu.

- Bandit

I finished NaNoWriMo on time! In fact, I hit word count 2 days early. It wasn’t easy, though. When I finally had two consecutive days off from work, I told my family and friends (those I communicated to on a regular basis throughout November at least, oops) to leave me alone as I would be writing. At the time I was about 8,000 words behind and starting to get rather worried. So in a push to get to AT LEAST the daily word count, I told my flatmates to not let me out of my room unless it was to go to the bathroom or grab a drink (more an excuse, this one, considering I had 6L of juice in my room so I wouldn’t have to leave it) and I wrote. Sunday I wrote well but fairly slowly; I wrote and napped and acted much like a human being would. On Monday I wrote from 5am till 8pm with a half-hour break in the middle for lunch and a movie swap with Individual.

After all that… I sit 119 words above word count and I plan to relax for a few days before picking it up again for edits and continuing story. What’s amusing to me is that those just-over-50,000 words are only parts 1 and 7 fully, and markers 1 through 4 fully. I think Holmes and I underestimated how long this thing would actually be. Awkward. Anyway, I need to polish up part 7 before I hit the ground running with part 2, but expect updates on the Ya’aburnee page within about 2 weeks. From “field testing” and “market research” apparently what I class as very mild slash is still quite jarring for people who either don’t read it or never want to so… Please please PLEASE read the warnings at the top of every chapter. I’m not going to mold the story into something it’s not for a few people who dislike the genre, but I’m not out to deliberately scar them for life either. Just read the warnings and if you realize mid-way through a part that you can’t handle that level of slash then just move to the next one. No harm done, simple as pie.

Also, my AMAZING flatmate Mack (who designed her own website, isn’t it freaking EPIC?) designed me a cover for the book once it’s done, and I couldn’t be happier. She’s still going to design me the spine (once we know the length of it so we can get the right parameters) and the back cover (I promised to feed her candy for a month for that… so worth it) but for now, check it OUT:

Now that that’s out of the way and I can stop both gloating and flailing over my amazing cover, I can finally explain the reason behind the blog name.

It’s now December. In most normal brains THIS is the month of Christmas, this is the month where you START selling Christmas decorations and planning for the shopping and buying the tree and whatever else it is people who actually care about the Hallmark side of the holiday do. However, because most of the civilized Western world is so material, Christmas has been on sale since late October and Christmas carols (the bane of my life, if I’m honest) have been playing since November 1st.

For those not yet aware, I work at Whitcoulls bookstore. Very much like Borders but we make it a point to constantly remind the world (meaning NZ) that we are PROUDLY NEW ZEALAND OWNED AND OPERATED. Whitcoulls, like many book stores, food stores, clothing stores and plant wholesalers has been playing Christmas carols over their speaker system for about a month now. Thankfully out of the six disks circulating around the stereo, only one is filled with “Christmas cheer”, but nonetheless it has given me the opportunity to realize yet again how inappropriate some Christmas carols are. Three in particular bug me every year (this goes beyond just being annoyed at the fact that they’re teeth-rotting sweet and happy anyway) more for their content and the creepy joy it’s delivered with rather than say, the fact that they just happen to be Christmas carols.

Also known as the song that teaches children to be annoying brats and expect to get anything they want. If in doubt, the second verse is pretty self explanatory:
Oh, bring us a figgy pudding;
Oh, bring us a figgy pudding;
Oh, bring us a figgy pudding and a cup of good cheer
We won’t go until we get some;
We won’t go until we get some;
We won’t go until we get some, so bring some out here

As Mack and I were discussing earlier, it’s a pretty decently creepy thing to say to someone. First you show up at their doorstep, singing, and then expect cake for it. On top of that you threaten to not leave EVER until they give it to you. All you Christmas lovers who are probably reading this bundled up in Frosty the Snowman sweaters with a cup of hot ginger coco and thinking “oh, fudge, what a cynic she is!” let me put this into perspective for you: a group of people show up at your doorstep, they make a lot of noise, and then tell you they won’t leave until you give them cake. Or food. Or any number of things including alcohol, money, your cocaine stash in the freezer…

The song’s a seriously bad influence, I just wish more people would realize this as they’re walking around the store humming along to it and bopping their heads as though it’s actually decent music.

This one shouldn’t even need to be explained. I mean seriously. The title gives it away. This is the ultimate guide to Christmas murders. I don’t even remember who I was discussing this with, but we both came to the conclusion that we know just how this song came about. One evening when grandma was babysitting a child or two, Mommy and Daddy went out and got a little too trashed. Coming home later that evening they accidentally hit grandma with their car. Realizing their mortal (puns, oh the puns) error, they decided to scapegoat Santa. Because, why not really? The man rides around in a sled pulled by essentially wild animals and he follows no rules of the road. It’s not only likely but damn near plausible that Santa could have hit someone on his way down the street.

Kids obviously bought it, and now it’s an eerily happy song sung around Christmas to cover up a gruesome drunk-driver story with Christmas cheer and tinsel. What worries me is that kids sing this one more than adults do, and they sing it in such a way as to make you think that they would actually be HAPPY to see grandma get run over by a reindeer so that their faith in the fat man in a red suit who gets into your house when you’re sleeping is restored annually. Speaking of fat men in red suits, this brings me to song number three.

Of all the songs on the list, this is the one that worries me the most. This is one of the most popular songs to sing and play during the Christmas season, and adults and children alike honestly don’t hear the words they’re singing. I pointed the creepiness out to a coworker of mine recently when he walked across the main floor humming it to the stereo. It took me three tries of slowly repeating the lyrics back to him before it clicked and he gave me a completely scandalized look as though I’d just ruined his childhood.

Basically this is the ultimate stalker song. Not only that, it’s the ultimate pedophile stalker song. Or at least the song that’s directed at his victims after a certain amount of time has elapsed.

You better watch out
You better not cry
Better not pout
I’m telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town

So… you better be careful and not cry in case someone asks you why you’re crying. And if you tell them, shit’s gonna get real because Santa’s back in town and you KNOW what happened last time. Honestly, I can’t be the only one who sees this. If that’s not enough, the happy chorus of

He sees you when you’re sleeping
He knows when you’re awake
He knows if you’ve been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake!

should just cinch it. It’s obviously something to sing about when someone’s standing outside your window watching you sleep. Maybe it’s the Twilight generation, thinking it’s romantic and not at all disturbing to have someone in your room staring at you when you’re too out of it to know or defend yourself. I won’t lie, this song scares the crap out of me every time and it always makes me wonder just what the kids are thinking when they sing it. Or the adults, who know better, and sing it to their kids anyway. Hypocritical really, considering the amount of “stranger danger” kids are injected with at school (rightfully so).

For those who can’t tell… I’m not much of a Christmas person. At all. Christmas carols drive me nuts and – if played for long enough and often enough – drive me to tears from frustration and annoyance. Also, I’ve been watching ungodly amounts of Zero Punctuation lately so that could explain my tone. And… certain wordings.

This is my 99th post. That’s right, ninety-ninth. I’d like to make the 100th something interesting so I’m opening mine ears to any and all suggestions. Please give them. Otherwise my 100th post will be another “sorry guys, next week will be better” entry and I really don’t want another like that, November was full of them.

Current NaNoWriMo wordcount: 50,119

My NaNoWriMo page is right here if you’re keen to follow updates and get excerpts. Or way over here if you’d like to read it as I post it.

Current collab wordcount: 436,813

My story with Jack is currently on semi-hold as both of us work on our respective NaNos for the month. However it is still an obsession, yes, it’s ridiculously long, no, I’m not making the word count up, no, I have no idea if and when this will ever end, yes, I will keep updating the word count, no, you don’t have to care.

RAOC had a documentary made about it by a student from South Seas Film and TV School. That’s right, the same South Seas that I went to in 2009 and graduated from. The director was lovely and I can’t wait to see the finished product. Keep you posted on both here and the RAOC website so check in on the link once in a while.

I have no new reviews in The Midnight Screening this week. NaNo has taken over my life.

“1000+1 Books” has a few more books. I add to it when I feel like it, since this isn’t a review page, but it’s always a good place to go if you can’t think of your next book to read. For much better (and very informative) reviews, check out Collecting a Library, she never lets me down.

Incidentally, don’t forget to check out the new entries from Jack (who has promised an entry, finally) and Lochinvar too. Show em the support and love they deserve, guys, these blogs are amazing.

This week’s songs are : [taken from the Ya'aburnee soundtrack]

-+- Orchard of Mines – Globus
-+- No Light No Light – Florence and the Machine
-+- Bring on the Wonder – Susan Enan

Stay classy guys, till the day after next Castiel day… (correction as requested by Mack)

Bandit, OUT.

NaNo ends on WEDNESDAY and I need to spend every waking moment on the thing to make word count for the 30th. Once that’s done I can write a proper entry and spend the next six months honing the story out and ironing all the things that weren’t quite up to standard before.

Currently still writing part 7, for those hoping for updates, but there is a huge chance that by Tuesday I’ll have written and posted both part 2 and marker 3, so stay tuned. If you want teasers… ask away, I might oblige ;)

Till next Friday, then, good sirs and gentle ladies.

Basically what happened was I got a job. Which is good, I need to pay rent and I like to have money on me so that I can pretend that I’m a grownup when in actuality I’m spending it on books that my bookshelves can no longer support. Well, I do pay rent as well, otherwise I wouldn’t have the net to write this properly. So that’s somewhat adulty. Anyway, the point is I got a job, and because of said job my hours for writing NaNoWriMo are limited, and because of that I spend more of my usually-free time writing my NaNo because all of my NaNo time I now spend at work. It’s all quite simple, really.

I now work at Whitcoulls, which, for those who don’t live in NZ, is kinda like Borders only not bankrupt and closed down. It’s actually in an old Borders store with most of its past Borders staff which I find quite funny, but it is, in reality, a Whitcoulls. For those who remember me before I started this blog, I used to work at Borders (before it was bankrupt and closed down) before I went to film school. I worked full time for 6 months before I gave up and left to go to South Seas. Have kinda always hated myself for not asking to stay on the payroll on there though because it’s been damn near impossible to find a job since then.

It amuses me that my boss told me that they would “start me off” with 8 hours a week and it’s been 3 days so far and I’ve worked 23 already. I have two more ridiculously early mornings to live through before I have a break and hit up my two late nights. In the time I’m not working I’m going to be freakishly addictively writing. I am currently just under 3,000 words behind on my word count because apparently sleep is good for you and I’ve started to appreciate it a little more now that I’m in the workforce again. However by this evening the chance is highly likely that I will be ahead of word count.

For those following my NaNoWriMo escapades, unfortunately I won’t be posting updates on here just yet. I ended up having to write out of chronological part order because Holmes and I needed to reshuffle some information and add in a few more details. This meant more research on her end and she was worked off her feet as it was. So I’ve been writing Part 7 and will most likely finish that before returning to writing Part 2 and fixing up Marker 3 to keep y’all in suspense for Part 3 and so forth. By next week expect updates I think. Maybe late next week. If my hours slow just a tad to get the thing proofed before it goes up. Not to mention, you know, written.

Now, unfortunately there is absolutely nothing else exciting happening in my life at the moment so I’ll cut this entry short. Maybe I’ll have some war stories (from work) by the time I get to posting over the Friday/weekend period or maybe some actual war stories if I post part 2 earlier than planned (I’d just like to ask people to please PLEASE read the warnings at the beginnings of each chapter… there are tons of triggers as well as content that may offend/disturb/disgust (not actually slash, here, so be warned) coming up and you should be prepared for it… put it this way, if you ignore the warnings and read it anyway then complain to me I’ll simply ignore you. That is all.

Current NaNoWriMo wordcount: 32,220

My NaNoWriMo page is right here if you’re keen to follow updates and get excerpts. Or way over here if you’d like to read it as I post it.

Current collab wordcount: 423,215

My story with Jack is currently on semi-hold as both of us work on our respective NaNos for the month. However it is still an obsession, yes, it’s ridiculously long, no, I’m not making the word count up, no, I have no idea if and when this will ever end, yes, I will keep updating the word count, no, you don’t have to care.

RAOC had a documentary made about it by a student from South Seas Film and TV School. That’s right, the same South Seas that I went to in 2009 and graduated from. The director was lovely and I can’t wait to see the finished product. Keep you posted on both here and the RAOC website so check in on the link once in a while.

I have no new reviews in The Midnight Screening this week. NaNo has taken over my life.

“1000+1 Books” has a few more books. I add to it when I feel like it, since this isn’t a review page, but it’s always a good place to go if you can’t think of your next book to read. For much better (and very informative) reviews, check out Collecting a Library, she never lets me down.

Incidentally, don’t forget to check out the new entries from Jack (who has promised an entry, finally) and Lochinvar too. Show em the support and love they deserve, guys, these blogs are amazing.

This week’s songs are : [taken from the Ya'aburnee soundtrack]

-+- Orchard of Mines – Globus
-+- No Light No Light – Florence and the Machine
-+- Bring on the Wonder – Susan Enan

Stay classy guys, till the day after next Castiel day… (correction as requested by Mack)

Bandit, OUT.

For all you clever little bees who figured out that my promised blog last week didn’t come, I apologise. Exams had me by the metaphorical balls and I had to make the effort to get them to let go. I’ve now only one exam left, this coming Monday, before I can call myself truly a free student. It’s ridiculous how quickly the year has gone… and how quickly the holidays will pass before summer school dawns and brings with it a 5-day week, 2 hours a day of a subject that quite frankly sets my teeth on edge. Damn you required papers.

I recently started working for a friend of Q’s helping out with a major D.I.Y. project that she has going. I’ve only worked one “shift” so far – we have an interesting shift system that goes by the “today there are too many people in my house, see you tomorrow?” timetable – but in those five hours I’ve developed a new appreciation for the handyman (and woman). I’ve always thought it was cool to be able to do so many things and call it a skillset. It’s funny how random knowledge really helps when you’re sitting in the middle of the landing on the stairs constructing bookshelves all morning in between hauling heavy furniture up and down those same curled stairs before insulating the deck and garage with a broom and trash bags filled with polystyrene chips.

As Q put it, I caught the bug. Once you start something and it engrosses you you just keep going without realizing that three hours have passed and it’s time for lunch considering you haven’t eaten anything all morning. Add to that the fact that using a mallet is damn satisfying when you’re in the mood to hash out your problems with inanimate objects. To put it bluntly, I’m looking forward to going back for another shift. The promise of gardening and mulching await me and I need to break in my other other workboots.

Besides this, life has been pretty status quo. I’ve grown used to my flatmates casually walking into my room without comment and making themselves comfortable on my couch and reading my magazines. I no longer spend five minutes staring at them before they look up with a questioningly cocked eyebrow as though to ask “what’s the problem?”; it wastes valuable writing time, and that is time I cannot waste.

I started NaNoWriMo a week late due to exams and have been pushing for anything between just-over and double writing goal since then to keep up. Although I doubt Mack will see my word count as “keeping up” so I’ll just nip that argument in the bud before she smothers me one evening. My word count, at the moment, is just over 100 words over the goal for the day. I have a busy weekend ahead of me and another exam on Monday (thinking I’ll keep bringing it up so that people can remind me I have one in case I forget). After that I’m hermitting in my room with my bass headphones on full listening to Holmes and I plan the story from start to end over our Coromandel roadtrip. I need to confirm specific dates and details you see.

Data, data, data, and all that, for those who get the reference.

I’d decided early on that I would post the parts of my NaNo on here as soon as they were written and proofed so that I could have feedback to work with later. Since the goal of NaNoWriMo is 50,000 in one month, I need to make the count, but we planned this story longer so once I reach the goal and claim my prize of a paperback version of my story, I have six months to edit it to perfection before I send it off. And before I hit that stage I need to know if what I’ve written – even if it will be reworked and reworded potentially – reads well and is worth me making the effort. Put it this way, I’ll publish the thing anyway because I would’ve made word count but I’m curious to see what others think. Fair? Conceited? Both? Most likely both. *shrug*

Because of this, I’ve made a page for my NaNo this year on here. Yes, it is a story with aspects of slash, no you don’t have to read it, but yes, it is very easy to read if you don’t slash or simply dislike the pairing. It’s called reading the warnings above every chapter and skipping the ones you don’t like. It’s an ASPECT not the focus. The focus of the story is the history of these two people, THAT’S what 50,000 words are on. Slash takes a back seat in this, and only appears because we just feel it inevitable to. I can guarantee only two chapters that are NC-17 and should be skipped by haters. Skipping the chapters won’t disadvantage you.

It is free to comment on, as is everything, and all the information you need about it is on there, or you can ask if you need to. I’d love opinions of anyone who has a moment to skim over. In this case I will request only typo and comprehension errors in the grammar department, we’ll fine-tooth-comb the thing after November for everything else. Otherwise just tell me if it reads well and if you like it and would keep reading. It does help if you’ve seen both Inception and Brick but it’s not vital. If you haven’t seen the latter, though, Part 2 and partial sections of Part 4 may not make much sense, so be prepared for that. Other than that… looking forward to the responses, if I get any.

Oh! Also please let me know if the coding is off on any of the pages, cheers.

Current NaNoWriMo wordcount: 18,463

My NaNoWriMo page is right here if you’re keen to follow updates and get excerpts.

Current collab wordcount: 397,307

My story with Jack is currently on semi-hold as both of us work on our respective NaNos for the month. However it is still an obsession, yes, it’s ridiculously long, no, I’m not making the word count up, no, I have no idea if and when this will ever end, yes, I will keep updating the word count, no, you don’t have to care.

RAOC had a documentary made about it by a student from South Seas Film and TV School. That’s right, the same South Seas that I went to in 2009 and graduated from. The director was lovely and I can’t wait to see the finished product. Keep you posted on both here and the RAOC website so check in on the link once in a while.

I have no new reviews in The Midnight Screening this week. NaNo has taken over my life.

“1000+1 Books” has a few more books. I add to it when I feel like it, since this isn’t a review page, but it’s always a good place to go if you can’t think of your next book to read. For much better (and very informative) reviews, check out Collecting a Library, she never lets me down.

Incidentally, don’t forget to check out the new entries from Jack (who has promised an entry, finally) and Lochinvar too. Show em the support and love they deserve, guys, these blogs are amazing.

This week’s songs are :

-+- Till I Collapse – Eminem
-+- Good Life – OneRepublic
-+- Time – Hans Zimmer

Stay classy guys, till the day after next Castiel day… (correction as requested by Mack)

Bandit, OUT.

…

ON SATURDAY

due to exams and studying for them

The problem with book characters – as opposed to film ones – is that unless the book has been adapted (usually badly) or someone has made some rather amazing fanart to it, it’s hard to describe a character physically. And a lot of people – myself included, so not judging here – like to judge a character by their appearance as well as their qualities. So… I’ll attempt to describe them as I saw them as I read the books, using actors people either know or can easily look up, in hopes of enticing visually-stimulated readers to check out my list of amazing fictional characters.

Keep in mind that like the other entry, this is just a list of SOME OF THE CHARACTERS I like. By FAR not all of them. These are either the ones I always tell people about or the ones that came to mind first at this rather ungodly hour of the morning for most people. For me it’s still rather early, but I have an appointment with my linguistics tutor in a few hours to discuss the transitivity of verbs and the S structure of adverbials so… maybe sleep is a good idea at a decent hour.

ANYWAY before I go off on yet another tangent that will bore my readers to tears, here it be:

This is probably one of the only characters on this list for whom finding a fanimage is damn near impossible. It’s beyond me why more people haven’t read this book, I adore it beyond words and recommend it to pretty much everyone I know. The Phouka is faerie, he’s a sprite, he’s a trickster, he’s a wonderful shapeshifting smartass who wins the heart of anyone and everyone who reads him on the page. Phouka is charismatic, he’s funny, he’s ridiculously sympathetic and he’s a character who makes me adopt his mannerisms and speech patterns every time I read the book (which is so often it’s potentially unhealthy). I’ve been meaning to write this book into a screenplay since I read it the first time, because I would love to see this made into a film. I’d only trust Tarsem Singh (The Fall, The Cell, Immortals) to helm it, but I would love to see it made.

Haymitch Abernathy
In My Mind: Robert Downey Jr.
From: The Hunger Games trilogy

By: Suzanne Collins

Anyone who’s read the Hunger Games trilogy would assume that of all the characters to choose to represent the series on my list, Haymitch isn’t the first that comes to mind. But if I’m honest, the series astounded me with more than just its plot and absolutely stunning ideas, but with its minor characters. Arguably, Haymitch isn’t a minor character, but he’s not one of the first to come to mind when one asks for main characters. I love Haymitch because he’s real. He won the games 24 years ago, he’s been drinking himself slowly into the grave since, and hating life when every day he wakes up alive again after nightmares upon nightmares of the games he won and years and years of seeing young kids go to their death from their district. Haymitch takes no bullshit and gives none, his advice to Katniss and Peeta is “stay alive”. Nothing more nothing less. I can’t actually tell you why I love him so much, but he was battling Cinna and Finnick for this space so something about his humanity must’ve rung true. I’m well aware that the film has been cast, but I disagree with 98% of the casting so I cast him as I saw him in my mind.

Doc Worth
In My Mind: Paul Bettany
From: Hanna Is Not A Boy’s Name

By: Tessa Stone

This is technically an internet graphic novel, not a book, so finding images of Doc Worth are a lot easier than of any of the other characters so far. There are tons of fan communities for Hanna, and I have to agree with the casting by the majority of the fans… Paul Bettany would work the shit out of this character and have a ball doing it. I’ll actually use Tessa’s description of Doc to make it easier and more entertaining. Disclaiming right this very instant that the following passage is NOT MINE. “Doc Worth did the whole fancy going to medical school thing for a while, until he realized that dressing nicely and remembering a bunch of ‘useless crap’ wasn’t really his style. So he dropped out, fell out of touch with his family and started a practice in a dark alley somewhere while simultaneously deciding that all of his coats needed to have a line of fur on it for absolutely no reason except maybe that it made him look sorta dingier and skeezier.”

Guy Montag
In My Mind: Cillian Murphy
From: Fahrenheit 451

By: Ray Bradbury

I read this book yonks ago and it’s another of my all time favourites to reread and recommend to people. Especially if they like reading, considering the plot. Guy is an interesting character for me because he’s easy to relate to. Yes, he goes through the typical hero growth-arc; first he follows along with orders, then starts to think for himself, then starts to understand the pull towards breaking the law and why he did it previously… it’s hard to explain. Something about Guy makes you like him and, for a while at least, pity him. I know that this has been adapted before, but if I’m honest I am too scared to watch it in case it ruins my beautiful imagery that I’ve built up in my mind for such a long time… I’d like to see Cillian act him, he’d work very well.

Strannik
In My Mind: John Malkovich
From: Prisoners of Power (Inhabited Island)

By: Arkadi and Boris Strugatsky

I am positive that besides Q no one else will know this book. It was thanks to Q that I found it and read it, actually, so thank you. It’s difficult to describe the Strugatsky brothers’ work… this is the first book of a trilogy, but you can read all books standalone; it’s a melding of science fiction and dark satire of society; it’s actually not my favourite book in the trilogy but I happen to like Strannik in it the most. Also he loses his “title” in book 2 (Beetle on the Anthill). Strannik is a difficult character to explain because he is so shadowy and UNexplained. For most of the book you have no idea who he is, he’s probably considered a minor character even though he’s the key to the entire book in the end. He’s not a villain, he’s not a hero, he’s both. It’s damn near impossible to relate to him but he is so fascinating that I doubt it’s possible to outright hate him.

The Narrator
In My Mind: Edward Norton
From: Fight Club

By: Chuck Palahniuk

This is one of the few books which I loved just as much as the film adaptation, and it’s probably the only book where I will cast the character as he was cast in the film adaptation. Why? Because I saw the movie first. But believe me when I say that it is so beautifully and perfectly cast that I wouldn’t be able to recast the Narrator if I tried. The Narrator is never named in the book. It’s written in first person and whenever someone refers to him it’s either with use of a pronoun or as “Jack” which isn’t his name but rather a name taken from an article the Narrator reads in both the book and film that he adopts to describe himself. The Narrator is – scarily, for those who’ve read the book/seen the film – probably the only character I can relate to to the point of frightful accuracy. Insomnia has never been described so well. The Narrator comes close to being an “everyman” (to quote another book which I don’t plan to review/talk about on here) but in the most twisted and convoluted way… I won’t spoil the ending here.

Aziraphale and Crowley
In My Mind: Lee Pace and Michael Fassbender
From: Good Omens

By: Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

Yes, yes, cheating post, I know, sue me. But if you’ve read the book you know that you can’t have Aziraphale without Crowley and vise versa. For those freaking out over slash, no, not in that way, though I know most of the female fandom of Good Omens sees them this way all the time. I don’t. I just love them as unlikely best friends and allies, being an angel and a demon as they are. These have to be two of the most beautifully crafted characters I’ve read in a long time; they’re fleshed out, they have enough history to fill books (and do, if you’re religious with a sense of humor) and they are FUN to read. Easy to relate to? Not unless you gave away your flaming sword to Adam and Eve as they were kicked out of the Garden of Eden or threaten your plants into growing. Highly entertaining duo nonetheless.

Henry DeTamble
In My Mind: Jensen Ackles
From: The Time Traveler’s Wife

By: Audrey Niffenegger

I know this was made into a film also and there are no words for just how much I HATED and despised that adaptation and its casting. Holy mother of Christ. If you even think about watching the film before reading the book you may potentially be dead to me forever after. Just saying. Urgh. Henry is one of the most stunning, powerful and complicated characters I’ve ever read. I haven’t been able to make it through the book a second time because I know that I’ll cry from about the midway mark again and I’m not sure I’m stable enough to handle that much pain at the moment. It’s the author’s skill that made Henry’s non-existent disease not only believable but believable to a point that you forget that it doesn’t exist. The way Henry handles Chrono-displacement, the way he explains it to others, how he goes about SURVIVING with such a thing… there are just no words for how amazing he is.

Wanderer
In My Mind: Kristen Bell
From: The Host

By: Stephenie Meyer

My God, can this be? A FEMALE character on the list? That’s right, there are few female characters I like in books and Wanderer makes the cut. If Haymitch hadn’t've made the list earlier, Katniss would have been first in the female line, but alas. I say this every time I recommend this book to people – which, like the rest on this list, is often – DO NOT JUDGE THE BOOK BY ITS AUTHOR. That sounds ridiculous but it’s true. Forget that Meyer ever wrote that shit called Twilight. This is a brilliant book, don’t let your Twihate cloud that. I did for far too long and I regret not reading it earlier. Wanderer is interesting in a number of ways, first and foremost in that she spends most of the book as not only herself but Melanie also. Wanderer is a soul. Technically she has no body unless she possesses one, but this is about CHARACTERS… as a character she’s incredible. She’s lived so many lives, on so many planets, and seen so many things that she didn’t understand before coming to earth and taking over this powerful, desperate human who teaches her things that her poor soul essence had never encountered. For those who know the book… yes, I cast her as her final vessel. I always cast Melanie as Sophia Bush.

Dorian Gray
In My Mind: Ben Barnes
From: The Picture of Dorian Gray

By: Oscar Wilde

Like Fight Club, I agree with the casting on this, so it’s staying. I read this book when I was quite young and reread it recently and I adore it. Q said she saw a stunning theatre performance of this and has been unable to forget it since, and I can only imagine how beautiful that must have been. Dorian is interesting to me because he grows so much as a character and because of just how LONG it takes him to do so. He’s arrogant, young, foolish and nothing he does will kill him. To a point, it’s easy to understand what he did and why, and even – for a time, at least – for length of time he did it for, but at the same time it doesn’t take long into the book before the reader is feeling uneasy with all the things Dorian does, takes for granted, and forgets. I love it because it’s a logical and frightening take on beauty, sexuality, irony and immortality, and it’s presented through a beautiful, young face.

Sweet. God. That took a while. I’ve been at this for about 3 hours now and I swear there will still be more typos in here than I’d rather see. Ah well, makes it genuinely and legitimately mine then. Like I said before, this is barely grazing the list of characters and books I love, but I can’t go over 10 before I hit a ridiculously huge word count and start to nit-pick to the point of nauseating boredom. The last few characters on any list are the ones you fight for and chew over for a long time. I’ve missed tons of characters I love, but that’s due to list restrictions.

If you made a list who would you include? If you know/like any of the characters I’ve listed… do you agree with my casting? Yes, I’m desperately trying to get my followers to talk to me again on here. One can hope right?

I’ve signed up for NaNoWriMo and you can find me right here if you’re keen to follow updates and get excerpts. Wish me luck!

My story with Jack is now at 377,465 words and we’re still going strong. Yes, it’s an obsession, yes, it’s ridiculously long, no, I’m not making the word count up, no, I have no idea if and when this will ever end, yes, I will keep updating the word count, no, you don’t have to care.

RAOC had a documentary made about it by a student from South Seas Film and TV School. That’s right, the same South Seas that I went to in 2009 and graduated from. The director was lovely and I can’t wait to see the finished product. Keep you posted on both here and the RAOC website so check in on the link once in a while.

I have no new reviews in The Midnight Screening this week. However I am going to watch a movie with Q tomorrow night that I’ve been waiting for a very long time so chances are I’ll review it upon my return.

“1000+1 Books” has a few more books. I add to it when I feel like it, since this isn’t a review page, but it’s always a good place to go if you can’t think of your next book to read. For much better (and very informative) reviews, check out Collecting a Library, she never lets me down.

Incidentally, don’t forget to check out the new entries from Jack (who has promised an entry, finally) and Lochinvar too. Show em the support and love they deserve, guys, these blogs are amazing.

This week’s songs are :

-+- Till I Collapse – Eminem
-+- Everything to Lose – Dido
-+- Sing It Out – Switchfoot

Stay classy guys, till the day after next Castiel day… (correction as requested by Mack)

Bandit, OUT.