http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/019741.html

Crazy guy: Have you seen a bus come by recently?
Girl #1: No, sorry.
Crazy guy: How long have you been here?
Girl #2: We just got here.
Crazy guy: Oh. Welcome!

--89th St & Broadway

Overheard by: Nora

http://whedonesque.com/comments/20900

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgGTeT0jbbI

This actress sold Cordelia some art supplies in "To Shanshu in L.A." Here we find she's still selling paint, but now she's gone corporate.

For some reason, I found this amusing.

http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/019740.html

Woman at street vendor: I'll have a small coffee.
Vendor: We only have one size.
Woman: Well, I'll take the smallest size you have.

--Central Park

Overheard by: Siobhan

http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/index.php/weblog/comments/me-and-my-twitter/

My name is Sarah, and I have a Twitter problem. 

I actually think Twitter is freaking awesome, and love it and love using it - to the point where sometimes I have to say to myself, “Step away from the Twitter.” It’s almost a default for me - email, Twitter, web.

I can think of a few dozen of examples of how Twitter has connected me to people and information I never would have known about if I hadn’t been signed on, and I haven’t been using it that long, either. I can remember when I first signed up and had NO IDEA what to do with it. The whole “What are you doing?” question gave me the chuckles: “I’m watching the market recap, and drinking an import!” Heh. What are YOU doing, Twitter?

Holy crapdamnhell, Twitter is doing a lot. I prefer Twitter to Facebook because while Facebook is an enclosure, Twitter is a platform. In Facebook, you communicate through Facebook. Facebook is the destination and the confinement: the conduits are all Facebook, and while you can link to other stuff, most of the time, you’re following links to other parts of Facebook. You don’t have to leave Facebook, either. It’s all in there - and they want you to stay put. You don’t need anything other than Facebook. Do not look away from the Facebook. Facebook is all you need. There is nothing other than Facebook.

Sorry, what was I saying?

I am now someone who has written a whole new science fiction short story, all the way from the beginning to the end, and that's a comfort; I was genuinely scared there, for a while, that I was never going to be able to do that again. I would have been very sad to have to add writing short stories to the long list of things that I can't do any more.

It didn't turn out to be the U.S. Corps of Linguists story I had intended to write, which was a surprise -- but it did turn out to be a story about the Brethandi -- my ETs that look like Terran cattle. And that makes it useful; it's a step toward the story I was trying to write. And for once I didn't have to struggle to think of a title; it's called "The Brethandi Next Door."

It's a horrendously rough draft, and it's not plotted nearly tightly enough. But the rough draft is always the hardest part for me, and now I can start revising and rewriting, which is the fun part.

Rejoicing out loud here. ROL.

My co-workers are embarrassment squicking me so badly today. Just by...existing. D:

So, a meme, from everywhere:

Inspired by Doctor Who's "Turn Left:" Pick one of my stories and tell me a point in the tale that you'd change. Something tiny (e.g. "and then Jayne shot the guy on the left instead of the guy on the right") or big (e.g. "and then Lee pulled the plug on ship!Helo") and I'll tell you how that one difference would have altered the course of the entire story.

Though if you go with the "big" example above, the story just kind of ends, I suppose.

Current Mood: awake

My Readercon schedule. This is what I'm doing this weekend!

Friday 7:00 PM, ME/ CT: Talk / Discussion (60 min.)

Excellent Foppery: The Use of History in the Fantastic. Graham Sleight with discussion by John Clute, John Crowley, Greer Gilman, Victoria Janssen, Robert Killheffer

Following on from his talk at last year's Readercon (a potted history of the last twenty years in speculative fiction), Sleight now discusses the use of history in the fantastic - from John Crowley's AEgypt sequence to Tim Powers's fantasies of history. Other works discussed include Road Runner cartoons, Harry Potter, slash fiction, and the stories of Elizabeth Hand, Russell T. Davies, and Thomas Pynchon. Overarching theories may be suggested; gratuitous mentions of Shakespeare may also take place.

Friday 8:00 PM, Salon E: Panel: How Do We Choose What We Read?

Michael Bishop, Michael Dirda, Victoria Janssen, Rosemary Kirstein (L), Chuck Rothman, Rick Wilber

Those of us with broad tastes in literature are constantly choosing among many different types of story. What determines these choices? Do our story preferences vary with psychological state? What's behind the phenomena of concentrating on one subgenre or even one author, or acquiring a transient aversion to same?

Saturday 11:30 AM, VT: Reading (30 min.)

Reading from Moonlight Mistress, forthcoming in December from Spice.

Saturday 2:00 PM, RI: Workshop (120 minutes), Where Do You Get Your Ideas? Improv for Writers

Ellen Klages with participation by Nick Antosca, Inanna Arthen, Jeffrey A. Carver, Craig Shaw Gardner, Victoria Janssen, Vylar Kaftan, Shira Lipkin, Jennifer Pelland, Chuck Rothman

Remember when writing was fun? If you're stuck, out of ideas, or if your Editor/Critic keeps shutting down your muse-get out of your head and into this class. We're going to improvise, play with our imaginations, and rediscover our creativity. We'll explore characters, settings, plot twists, and dialogue, all using simple theater games. What bubbles up will be the basis for a few short writing exercises. Wear comfortable clothing, and come prepared to laugh. (2 hrs)

Sunday 11:00 AM, Vineyard: Kaffeeklatsch

Drink tea or coffee and chat with me!

Tags: con reports, panel reports

http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/019739.html

Mother to little girl: Dammit! Stop that, you are not a cat!
Friend: What's she doing?
Mother: She's licking me! She meows too!
Little girl: Meow!
Female passenger: Meow!
(pause)
Little girl: Meow?
Female passenger: Meow!

--M15 Bus

Overheard by: Kat

And now, cat snatches bat out of the air.

DON'T mess with the cat.

Current Mood: enthralled

No writing today, as I digest yesterday's excellent critique from slithytove, mroctober, pointoforigin, and filomancer. Am pondering how I can incorporate various suggestions, if those suggestions would work for the sort of novel this is, and how much better I aspire to make it, and if "better" in my opinion will make it more or less popular with readers (a thing I try to prevent myself from worrying about, as useless approval-seeking, and yet I do), and whether I should consult my editor about one or two plot ideas that are different from the synopsis they bought, or if I should just stop worrying about all that and go to Readercon this weekend, and let my backbrain make all the decisions, as it usually does. The subconscious has been giving me floods of anxiety dreams the last three days, or maybe it's four. I would like that to stop now, please.

It was a lovely break, if tiring, to go and play with Mademoiselle and The Maw after I got back from workshop.

Travel to Readercon is sorted, and I'm pretty much packed. Thank goodness I accomplished something. Still need to pack for RWA, because I leave for that two days after I return from Readercon, and will probably need to sleep or something in those two days.

Understatement: I was very glad to see filomancer yesterday.

My wordcounts on Friday and Saturday were 1530 and 1576, quite respectable, though I have done better in similar situations.

Dinner out tonight with feklar and barbarienne, then dinner out tomorrow with non-LJ people, then a haircut on Wednesday.

Tags: my life, writing, writing process