Goodbye fanfiction...

...Hello real world writing.

Yup, I've pretty much decided to leave the realm of fanfiction so that I can focus on honing my craft as a "real" writer. Last night, I posted my final chapter of my final Avatar: The Last Airbender story. The series is over, and I've pretty much told all the stories I'm going to tell. So it's a good time for me to stop.

I had some great times working on that stuff over the past three years with some great reviews and fantastic support from fans who've written some really nice things about me. They're the reason why I'm pursuing my writing career, and one day, I'm going to be able to thank them all in print when I get published.

Fare thee well, fanfiction. Parting is such sweet sorrow...

Meanwhile, big sis said she enjoyed Fighting for Her Love, (Hi Fi! Thanks for reading!) so with a little more spit and polish, plus a beta read among the pros, I think I'll be ready to pitch it to Harlequin Superromance. It'll be the first time I'll pitch to someone at my actual office--I've been staunchly avoiding that scenario when an editorial assistant smacks me across the back of the head with my own manuscript before setting it on fire and placing it on my desk. But I can't help what I write, and it fits best with the line, so I'm going ahead and risking injury.

Star Attraction is giving me a headache. I'm not sure I like it anymore. But it's still worth pitching, just because I can. If nothing else, I can post it on a blog or on fictionpress.com.

Haven't heard from Mills & Boon still about Her Cinderella Secret. Will try contacting someone at the end of the month.

Testing ideas for a fourth novel. Still have lots of unfinished projects, plus I want to try my hand at short stories. Mostly trying to take it easy and enjoy the summer while simultaneously planning the wedding and finding a new place to live. Fun times.

"Gay penguin couple splits after one shacks up with female "

Saddest animal world breakup ever.

From Yahoo! News:

After six years together, the relationship between a pair of gay male penguins at San Francisco zoo is apparently over, with Harry leaving Pepper for another penguin -- Linda.

The Los Angeles Times reported Friday that the relationship between Harry and Pepper, who lived side-by-side, protecting eggs abandoned by other penguins, came to a shocking end when Harry moved into a neighboring nest with recently-widowed Linda.

The development has sparked a variety of reactions in the blogosphere, where Linda has been called a "home wrecker" who "lives for her own happiness, no matter who gets hurt."

John, writing on "The Frigging Loon" blog, said he was "heartbroken" about the split and that he hopes Pepper "finds another male penguin that is ten times hotter than Harry!"

That whore!

Said Yes to the Dress

Thanks to my two awesome bridesmaids, I got my dress yesterday.

No peeking till the wedding day, John.

Interactivity Challenge! What's in a Name?

In a chicken and the egg dilemma, I have been staring down the inevitability of choosing a pen name and establishing a web presence by registering a domain, building a website, and starting up a separate Blogger blog. I tried this earlier when I'd finished my first draft on my first book, but as I hadn't chosen anything or even nailed down any choices.

No, I haven't sold a book...yet, but when I do (stay optimistic!) I want to be able to post the news somewhere that "isn't me."

It's a totally counter-intuitive choice--I'm not even willing to take John's name when we get married, but as many articles and advice column suggest, romance authors choosing nom de plumes should take on identities and stick to them. I've never been anything other than me, and I'm rather sheepishly unapologetic about it (why yes, that is an oxymoron, but so am I). So how do you go about turning yourself into someone else?

First step seems to be in choosing a name. (The Human Spider!)

So far, I've chosen Victory as a first name: there are already a lot of Vickies and Victorias, so I'm going to try to separate myself from the pack a little while maintaining my "real" name.

Any suggestions for a last name? I've played with the following: vote for your fave, or suggest your own! The criteria: it has to be available as a domain name and a Blogger blog name (e.g. victoryessex.blogspot.com; www.victoryessex.com, www.victoryessex.net, etc.)

1. Victory Essex
2. Victory Soto
3. Victory McGrath
4. Victory Jones
5. Victory So
6. Other...?

No closing date set for this challenge yet...but I'll be providing a real prize if you suggest the name I go with! (Think T-shirt and books and fun crap!)

Stay tuned!

Headshots!

Headshots from The Last Airbender:

Yeah, yeah, they're all white (not Dev). I'm giving up on any belief Hollywood would change their mind on casting Asians to play Asians. Whatever. This movie's getting made, and I'll judge it based on the performances. (Holds breath.)

Noah Ringer as Aang:

Dev Patel as Zuko:
Nicola Peltz as Katara:
Jackson Rathbone as Sokka:

30 km might be easier if there was lots of shopping on the way...

Since I've been sick with laryngitis, I haven't been able to do my usual workout, but I got back into training for the big Weekend to End Breast Cancer walk today, and boy howdy, gravity and my weak stomach were really trying to take me out. Did 14.31 km in about 5 hours (with lots of shopping and a couple of quick bathroom stops.)

Found that the khaki shorts I was wearing--casual things I got at Bluenotes--were a little too long and didn't give me much in the way of comfort for a walk this "intense". So I stopped at Old Navy and picked up a pair of teeny-tiny running shorts for, like $7.25 (they had a 50% off summer hot picks sale. Woot!) I even got the matching running bra top so that I'll be forced to work off some of my gut before I can wear it in public...which will likely be never.

A lot of people don't really understand why I'm training the way I am. They don't have a concept of what 30 km is to walk.

Well, here are some examples of 30 km walks, mapped out via Google Earth:

• If you started at Exhibition Place and headed north via the most direct street route, you could walk to Vaughn Mills/Wonderland in 30 km.
• If you started at the bottom of Yonge Street and kept heading north, after 30 km you'd be in Richmond Hill, just north of Gamble Rd./19th Ave.
• If you were to drive 30 km on the 401, you could start at Yonge and 401 and end up at Brock Road in Pickering.
• If you were to travel 30 km on the TTC Bloor/Danforth subway line, you could start at Kipling station, ride all the way to Kennedy station, and continue on the Scarborough LRT to Ellesmere station.

So yeah. I'm training. Good thing shopping is a good incentive for all this exercise.

Economics for the Anal Retentive

In these tough economic times, and as someone who has been diligently saving for a house since I was 6, people have asked me how it is I've managed to squirrel away what I have.

The easy answer is that I'm a cheap and boring person who doesn't travel, have a hobby, or generally enjoy life to its fullest. The hard answer is that I'm an Excel nut.

Since June 2004, I have been anally keeping track of every single penny I spend and make. I developed a sophisticated Excel spreadsheet to help me watch my expenditures and check it against what I earn.

Because a friend asked to see my system, today, I'm making my insanity available to the public!

Budget and Expenses vs Earnings.xls
http://www.4shared.com/file/115964461/5c759799/Budget_and_Expenses_vs_Earnings.html

The Excel spreadsheet includes notes on how things are listed and kept track of. It can be tailored to your needs, but the point of the whole exercise is to keep track of what you spend.

Sounds easy, but most people don't have the room in their heads to remember they spent $1.73 on a cup of tea from Starbucks that morning, or that they dropped $5.89 on a bag of milk at the grocery store.

How do you keep track? Here are some tips:

• Keep receipts.
• Write it down in a little notebook, if you have to.
  
• As soon as you come home at the end of the day, log everything you bought into your spreadsheet.
• If you're not good at that, email yourself or set up an alarm to remind you to look at your spreadsheet every day.

Any financial planner will tell you that keeping track of what you spend is essential to your financial well-being. Whether you want to be as nit-picky about it as me remains to be seen...

Run for Liqueur 2009

This Canada Day garnered me the most fascinating fund-raising contribution ever--donations from people willing to drink beer (or milk) and run laps around a track...at the same time.




I acknowledge the following, and thank them for their support and sacrifice:

Joe (technically came in second place since he managed to drink his beers and run)
Denise (finished two laps after drinking two glasses of chocolate soy milk)
Roger (who did 5 laps, but couldn't quite get through his beer)
Mike (who completed all four laps and finished his Canadian)
Attila (I had my money on the MMA fighter in training, but he, too, quit after 2 laps and two glasses of rice milk)
Jon (who didn't run, but very kindly donated)
Kristeen (who has been diligently raising funds for the WEBC and came out in support of Roger and the rest)
Yvette (who kept score)

Thanks to Xiao Pangzi for organizing a successful--albeit kinda disgusting--fund-raising event for the WEBC via the Run for Liqueur. The proceeds were donated to my teammate, Ivana, on my behalf.

I had to take my pants off to pump up my ball...

A trip to our local Canadian Tire to purchase camping equipment also yielded good deals on things John and I have been lately coveting: namely, a 65-inch inflatable yoga ball for me, and a bike pump for John.

Gleefully, I raced home to open up my new purchase, which cost only $3.58. I ripped the massive purple rubber sphere from the plastic bag, and immediately started using the included hand pump to inflate it.

Three minutes later, the healing effects of $84 massage I'd just gone for disappeared as I gave this damn thing the hand job of a lifetime.

But wait, I just purchased a bike pump, didn't I?

So in went the Raleigh bike pump ($15.99 on sale). I worked that thing like a someone doing something dirty and suggestive to a something. (Give me a break, I read this kind of thing all the time.)

As I write this post, thirty minutes later, I am STILL pumping my ball up, and working up a huge sweat in the process. I've had to change into shorts so I don't overheat, as the hose in the bike pump seems to be doing (ouch, that thing scalds. Who knew air friction produced heat? Damn thermodynamics....) I'm going to have to put a movie in while I do this...it's barely halfway full...


...But wait...didn't I just buy an electric pump for the air mattress we purchased for our camping trip???

*runs gleefully for pump*

Poo fear even at 6

Apparently, my teacher likes stories about birds pooping on my house while I play piano.

Also, how is it I can spell "piano" but not "playing"?

Conquer Cancer in Our Lifetime

Knowing I've some cheques in the mail and a wad of cash collected from the good people in the community of Kensington Market, I am happy to announce that I've reached my $1500 goal for the Weekend to End Breast Cancer!

Hooray!

The fund-raising won't stop, of course--every penny counts, and I would like to thank everyone who has been so generous towards my campaign.

To those of you who would still like to donate, there's plenty of time! But since I've made my goal, I urge you to go to my team's web page and sponsor one of my colleagues who has yet to meet their goal. If you still want it to be "for me" you can add a note saying, "On behalf of..."

Donate to my team members here!

Meanwhile, Flocons de Mais sent me this great link for this awesome video for the Princess Margaret Hospital. I like that the song is the opening to "Bittersweet Symphony."

Thanks once again to everyone for all their wonderful support and donations. Updates will continue right up to the day of the walk!

Wish my feet luck!

The King is Dead: Long Live the King

Michael Jackson, 50, is dead.

I don't know what to say to the passing of someone who was both a huge influence on the world, and yet was entirely out of touch with it. My sympathies to his kids and family, of course. But I'm having a hard time feeling any personal grief or remorse for the man.

Of course he had an illustrious career and changed the face of music. Of course he had a tragic past and fractured childhood that invariably warped him and likely contributed to his descent into celebrity madness. He healed the world, told us it don't matter if we're black or white, and brought his message to every corner of the globe with shining, glittering, chimpanzee-swinging, hip-swiveling, crotch-grabbing, hair-blazing glory.

And somehow, I can't muster a tear for the guy.

Maybe I'm still in shock.

Perhaps I outgrew MJ too long ago for his passing to impress any emotion whatsoever upon me. I was a child of the 80's, terrified whenever Thriller came on the Much Music video channel; I will still dance to Billie Jean when it comes on the radio. I liked his stuff back in the 90's, when Macaulay Culkin was one of his best buds and I could still do the moonwalk without hearing my ankles snap, crackle and pop. But after that, nothing.

In my mind, MJ had become a footnote on the Hollywood and celebrity section of the commuter paper, a tinseltown Boogieman for me to roll my eyes at every time he popped up, warning the world: Look. This is what fame can do to you.

Perhaps in years to come, I might mourn the loss of this titan of entertainment. But for now, I absolutely dread the next five months of TV tributes, radio marathons, special edition magazines, unofficial biographies, re-released CDs, 24-hour news coverage, hats, T-shirts, sparkly gloves and more that will be churned out by everyone trying to cash in on his death.

The King is Dead: Long Live the King.

Ghetto-snackular!

OMIGOD! How did I not figure this out before???

You know when you have a bag of chip crumbs and flavor dust that you don't really want to stick your fingers into, but don't really want to throw out because it is so damn tasty?

I just figured this out and tried it: smash the crumbs up (with a rolling pin or a hard cylinder you have handy...and get your mind out of the gutter!) and pour them into a batch of popcorn. Shake, and you have a tasty treat!

The yum tastes like brilliant!

Incidentally, actual popcorn chips (above) look like freaky abominations.

Writer's Update

Finished my third edit on Fighting For Her Love. Got it to 65,000 words and change. Gotta let it breathe before I cut it down a little more, so it'll probably be going to big sister for a read. Don't know what she'll say about it, as I named the heroine after her and her son. But hey, she and Xiao Pangzi dared me to write it, so really, it's their fault this book exists at all.

Going back to Star Attraction for now--looking back, I can see all kinds of glaring problems with the opening chapter. This was one of those cases where I listened to way too much advice about writing instead of just writing what I felt. I'd overedited the first three chapters so much, none of it made sense to me. No wonder a judge gave me a 2 in the Golden Hearts.

If I can cut the word count down, I'm aiming to send this out to either Special Edition or possibly Harlequin (Mills & Boon Tender) Romance sometime in late fall, or winter. But I think I'm going to revise the plot a whole bunch and streamline it so it, you know, makes sense.

No word yet from M & B on Her Cinderella Secret.

My last fan fiction story is coming to a close. Just an epilogue left and I'll be free to pursue other fandoms or activities. I should really try to plan that wedding and find that place to live....

No other strikes of genius have hit me lately for a fourth book, so I might try my hand at some short story writing for a couple of quickie ideas that have been bouncing around. I need to get back to writing for my pleasure. Fanfic was that for me for a long time, but since the end of Avatar, I've been hard-pressed to come up with anything else.

I have been playing with the idea of writing a fanfic for Gabriel Knight, the game whose demise left all kinds of questions hanging in my mind and in the mind of other fans. But that'll entail more work than I am willing to put into a dead fandom.

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

Predicitions for Global Warming at age 6

The big, big flud.

To think I'm a proofreader today. I nearly dide laughing.

T-shirt of FAIL

Was walking through Chinatown Centre a couple of weekends ago and saw this kids' T-shirt and shorts set for sale. Only $5.00.

The text on the shirt reads:
SEX
summer
-s to wear
the bearty's

I especially like Mickey shrugging in acceptance. Like, "It's raining SEX. Oh well. Ha-ha!"

Yum?

I'd forgotten I had some ground beef in the fridge I bought on Sunday, and discovered it'd gone a little grey on the outside. I sniffed it, but couldn't detect anything wrong with it, so decided to cook up some quick and easy spaghetti sauce.

Now that it's on the stove, I'm a little afraid to try it. My sinuses are all stuffed up, and I think my sense of smell is botched. So I'm staring at a full pot of spaghetti sauce, and there's no one in the house to tell me, "Mmm, that smells delish," or "FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT'S HOLY, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU COOKING, A THREE-WEEK-DEAD CAT?"

Do I try it? Do I leave it?

Ugh...

Lay in feverish dementia for most of the night last night and had to call in sick. It seems I've caught something, most likely Avery's croup, or laryngitis, as it is more commonly known in adults.

Even though my current symptoms are sore throat, fever, nausea, tiredness/weakness, and on/off chills, I'm still debating whether to simply go out and spread it around (I still contend it's the best way to recover) or simply to crawl back into bed and sleep. I can't stand staring out the door in longing, seeing the sun happily glazing the world while I skulk in the perpetual twilight of my basement apartment.

Seeing as I keep having bouts of can't stand on my own two feet at all, going out is probably a bad idea.

Snuh. I hate being sick.

Weather wins again

Dressed to...well, not thrill....

Went shopping on Sunday with my two lovely bridesmaids. Having no idea what I wanted, I left them to make the decisions for me.

My only real requests: under $200, and no ginormous train or hoop skirt. I don't want people to be helping me pee. I go often.

After some rooting around Kensington Market (which, sadly, produced nothing of interest) we headed for the bridal strip on Spadina around Queen. After trying several dresses on, the basic style has been narrowed down:

Taffeta (crunchy!); off-white (white-white looks freakish); with rouching around the midriff (to hide my lumpy belly).

So, yay! Now I can go outlet shopping and actually do some real looking!

Wedding plans, part one of....oh dear lord, this is going to become a wedding blog, isn't it?

The venues are booked. The date is set.

Thundercats are go!

With just under a year to plan everything, I'm discovering that, no matter how simple I want things to be, when it comes to family, things are complicated.

The parents insist they will financially cover whatever is needed, but it also means that I have to invite all these people who I wouldn't have otherwise put on the list. Apparently, I can't not invite them. GOTTA GIVE FACE!

Fine, more people means more gifts. Whatever.

But then there are the things that they're insisting on because "I should have a good wedding" and "I don't want to look cheap"...like flowers (I was just going to go get some plastic things from the dollar store!) and cake (McCain's, anyone?) and centerpieces (we were going to gather our crap together and just leave holey socks and bad books for people to fight over).

News flash: this is one day. I have no money considering John and I need to find a place to live. And, hello? I AM CHEAP.

Speaking of crap...we started our registry at the Bay, and OH MY GOD, it was terrifyingly complicated. We thought we'd just waltz in and sign up and get a scanner and go nuts.

No, no, no, the main store at Queen and Yonge sends you to the fifth floor where you have to make and appointment in this fancy lounge area to set up your registry. A woman in a sharp suit accosts you with bottled water, sits you down in designer chairs and interrogates you for 30 minutes about you home, your lifestyle, what you own, what you need to replace. And then she tries to push a whole new lifestyle as a married couple upon you. One in which you apparently entertain a group of 12 on a regular basis and break out the fine $85+/4 pc. set of fine china.

Hell, when more than 8 people come over, I break out the Royal Chinet. Nothing but the best paper plates when you have no dishwasher.

A sample of the typical line of questioning:

Mei (she was very nice, but really intense): How many sets of bedsheets do you own?
Us: Uh...two?
Mei: THAT'S NOT ENOUGH!
Us: ACK!
Mei: You should have at least THREE! You have guests over, you have one dirty set, you have one more, what will they sleep on? Too much trouble to clean the other set, and you're busy. NO, you must have THREE, AT LEAST!
Us: But...we only have one bed....

And more questions:

Mei: How many rooms in your house?
Us (despondently): We don't have a house.
Mei: Apartment? Condo?
Us: *sad hangdog puppy eyes*
Mei: (frowns in disapproval)

Mei: How many showers are you going to have?
John: Er...one a day?
Mei: I mean wedding showers or engagement parties.
Us: None.
Mei (frowns): Huh. You're keeping it simple then.
Us (a little sheepishly): Uh...yeah...

Here's the thing: John and I have tried to live frugally and without waste; plus we don't know what our living situation will be in a year's time, exactly, so space is always going to be an issue. This whole concept of getting stuff--and whatever we want, at that--was really foreign (but novel) to us. Chinese tradition is simply to give red pockets full of money. So the idea that someone would actually buy me new towels (the one major thing I look forward to) blew my frickin' mind.

In the end, that first day, all we put on were a new set of dishes (enough for eight people--are you happy, now, Mei?) since everything we own has been passed down to us and doesn't really match; and a stainless steel 4-slice toaster (because John really, really wanted it). I'm sure we'll go back for more, once we actually know what we need.

For now, I really look forward to new towels. In fact, they would not go amiss if I got them for my birthday....

OW...

Did the dreaded walk from work to home today.
That's roughly Don Mills/401 to Christie/Dupont.
Mapped out my walk on mapmyrun.com:

I walked a total of 16.86 km in 4.5 hours (including rest stops).

And now I know: no matter what gear you have, after a certain point, it doesn't matter. You're still fighting gravity and your own (i.e. my own) decrepit body.

You win again, gravity. Curse you, decrepit body.

Save me, ibuprofen, save me!

BBQ for Boobies!

Thanks to everyone who came out for P.S. Kensington! Jenny's game raised a total of $37! Woo hoo! Stay tuned, because there will be more events over the rest of the summer during Pedestrian Sunday.

And now for another random fund-raiser!


Our very generous neighbors in Kensington Market have donated 50 barbecue spatulas to the campaign! CAAM United Hardware is now offering these unique and useful items for only $2.00! The entire amount for each spatula purchased will go towards my WEBC campaign!

Hurry and get one today! You can't have summer without barbecue, and you can't have barbecue without burgers. Why not flip a patty and save a boob at the same time?

Thanks, as always, go to brilliant little sister Jenny, and my parents, without whom this campaign would not be possible. Special thanks to the guys who donated the spatulas...as soon as I find out their names, they're getting thanked!

Fixin' the blog, addin' the links

Just thought I'd draw your attention to the fanciness I've put up on my blog as of late.

Tag cloud: I got this HTML script off the net. Sorry it's so long, but I think it's kinda neat...and it's really making me limit the tags I use to describe things.

New links and blogs:

Six Degrees of Separation: Big sister started this blog after I insulted her by saying, "What on earth do you have to blog about?" I've always known anger was a good way to inspire people to do something. Check out lots of stories about the niece and nephew, and some generally hilarious stuff.

Yardbarker--Georges St. Pierre: The inspiration for the hero in my third novel writes occasionally about his life in the UFC, and has some interesting tales to tell. I particularly like the fans' comments. Lots of evidence that women watch UFC, too...specifically for GSP, of course.

The Last Airbender Live Action Movie blog: cast, filming, costumes, photos...it's all there. (FYI, the first preview will be shown at Transformers 2.)

Welcome to Weird World

Apparently, the clouds in Weird World wear Boy George makeup and aren't sure what flowers are. The ducks are the size of people, and you can ride on black Scotty dogs. I think people there have pet bees, too. Also, beware colorful Mothra.

CAAM United Hardware Limited...on the Web?!

I was weirdly surprised when I started Googling my parents' hardware store and came up with all kinds of stuff, including this commercial, as provided by Yellow Pages:



I guess after 25 years in business, it's nice people are saying good things!

And speaking of good things, check out the first Pedestrian Sunday of the year in Kensington Market this Sunday, May 31. Jenny will be hosting a fun little game to help me raise funds for thee WEBC.

Archie picks Veronica????

You stupid moron!

I mean, really, decades of rich snob versus wholesome girl-next-door, and you picked the snob whose father hates you?

This is going to end so well....

Unless, of course, they hook up, and he divorces her after a year, taking half her assets, and then runs away with Betty.

(Better sign a really good prenup, Ronnie.)

Another great first!

Every aspiring writer just LOVES to look back at their old work and rehash the wonder of their scribblings. Sometimes they're good...and something they're cancerous.

Well, now I present to you a regular (I hope) feature of scans from my childhood works. See, at my old elementary alma mater, the curriculum encouraged a lot of creative writing and drawing, so every day in Mrs. Sheldon's class, we would spend a part of the morning writing and illustrating a little story in our workbooks. We were also required to dictate stories to the teacher, who'd write them out for us in her neat printing, while we illustrated.

Here I present my first story, untitled, a gritty vignette about urban domesticity among working-class, first generation Canadian-born Chinese in downtown Toronto.

I wrote this on my first day of grade one, when I was six years old. This is probably the first piece of writing I have ever done.


If you're trying to figure out what everyone in the picture is doing: Jenny is watching TV (as evidenced by the cable box with the rabbit ears); my Dad is feeding fish in the tank; I am at the table eating; Fiona is skateboarding (there's lots of skateboarding in my stories); and my mother is drinking coffee (you can tell my the brown steam lines).

I think the story pretty much sums up our life twenty-three years later.

More Dev Patel as Zuko!

From Geekytyrant, more pictures of Dev Patel as Zuko.

He's got the right look and intensity, so I've got no real issues. Except, you know, for all the stuff everyone's been saying about no east Asians playing the principle characters. Also, his scar is just barely visible this picture--after all, we can't ugly him up too much.

I find it interesting they've repurposed the Rohan helmets from LOTR: Two Towers for the Fire Nation. What happened to the full-on white skull faceplates?

Not that I can expect the live action film to be anything like the cartoon.... Yeah....

Fighting for Her Love--Draft One COMPLETE!

Finished my first draft of my third novel, Fighting for Her Love!

WOOT!!!111ONE!!!

By the second half, it flowed like water, which I attribute to the fact that I did a lot of planning beforehand. Also, I talked out a lot of points with a critique group at the Toronto Romance Writers, and they really helped me nail down the character arcs and themes. So yay, thanks to them for all their help!

I'm really pleased with this story. It helped that I had a lot of inspiration (thanks to the sexy cover of February's Men's Fitness magazine) and just understood my characters' motivations. I came to the end of the story going "ahh" instead of "meh" as I have for the last two books. Also, I actually managed to write to word count this time, instead of over writing and then cutting! Awesome!

And now, the fun editing begins...*groan*...

I might let this rest for a couple of weeks and re-work Star Attraction. I've yet to submit that book to anyone, and should really try to before November.

Whew....I feel really good!

Because John didn't post it to his blog first

Watch My Favorite Movie (Star Trek vs. Star Wars) on CollegeHumor

Live Long and May the Force Be With You.

It begins....

Today, John and I went to view our first possible wedding venue, the Enoch Turner Schoolhouse. It was nice enough, though both of us are kind of shrugging our shoulders, wondering what we're supposed to want when all we really want is to be happy and married. You know, that thing we're supposed to be on our wedding day.

As the manager there put it, "How are you supposed to know? How often does anyone get married?"

We've done some preliminary talking and budgeting, and I even bought the Real Simple Weddings 2009 magazine, even though I promised myself years ago I'd never buy a wedding magazine. *growl*. Oddly enough, I find myself striking out all kinds of things in the mag that really aren't that simply. I mean, who really needs centerpieces or bonbonniers or place cards or flowers or bridesmaids or invitations or...

Yeah, maybe we should just elope....

WOOT!!!

$1250, baby! YEAH!!!

I'm over the top now, but I wanna reach that $2000 goal, and I have a whole 3 months to do it!

Thanks to everyone so far for all your support and donations, and all your advice with training!

New goal until mid-July: $1500.

Let your family and friends know! Together, we can save the boobies!

Donate to my campaign now!

First look at The Last Airbender!

Zuko and Aang, as played by Dev Patel and Noah Ringer!

Read the article here.

And try not to cringe when they describe the Avatar as being able to "manipulate the weather." *FANRAGESCREAM*

Good Intentions FAIL

Me: *looking in mirror, poking my belly, thinking* I should probably step up my workout and start dieting. I've got a whole bloody year to slim down so I look fabulous for the wedding...

(Later, at dinnertime...)

Me: Ooh, beer! Spaghetti! NOM NOM NOM!!!!

The best part of this story, as John will confirm, is that I almost never drink beer, and certainly not at home, alone, while eating dinner.

No, I'm not pregnant.

Maybe I should try the Kichadi diet...

Right Gear, Wrong Body

Walked about 11.5km today around the city. Had my new shoes, a new jacket, my yoga/running pants, workout T-shirt, cap, backpack, bottle of water, and two granola bars. Temperature hovered around 14 Celcius today; bright sun and a medium breeze kept me alternately warm and cool.

Made it to my halfway mark at the Eaton Centre for my break. And then my bowels rebelled. I cramped up and nearly didn't make it to the washroom, where I proceeded to break out into a cold sweat as agony seized my abdomen.

I figure it was the sudden change in temperature that did it. Or possibly the six or so kilometers I'd briskly walked. It wasn't until later that I clued into the Raisin Bran I had for breakfast. Of course, as I was eating it, knowing I'd be training later, I knew it was a bad idea. And yet, I just kept on eating it....

Took a long while to rest, continued on with some stomach squelching. Hadn't eaten lunch, I realized about halfway in, but since dinner last night was so big, I didn't think I'd need it. Changed my mind about three kilometres from home and ate a stuffed grape leaf.

By the end, I was tired and headachy (from cold wind blowing through my ears), and my feet felt like pancakes, but I know it's barely a fraction of the total distance I'm going to have to walk in September.

Note to self: no Raisin Bran before the walk.

Cans for Cans, Bins for Boobies...

So the Cans for Cancer campaign is underway, a project spearheaded by my little sister, Jenny.

The story goes like this: My cousin Ka Kan's company was getting rid of their garbage cans--perfectly good black plastic wastepaper baskets, such as you'd get from any office supply catalogue. She took these orphan cans in and brought them to my parents' hardware store to sell. Jenny decided they'd be better served for the WEBC's purposes and made up some signs. She also put a donation jar at the cash register, the contents of which will be donated on behalf of the Kensington Market community. She also made donation forms available to those who wanted to donate more.

So, yay, little sister! Thanks for all the hard work!

The Cans for Cancer campaign will run until they sell out. You can pick one up at CAAM United Hardware, 160 Augusta Ave., Toronto, Ontario. One hundred percent of the money will go straight to the Princess Margaret Hospital's Weekend to End Breast Cancer.

This is what happens when John is away

I start abusing the digital camera by taking pictures of the blisters bad shoes leave behind.



This blister is not from my new running shoes. This I got after walking to Loblaws (about 0.85 km away) and back in canvas Keds flats last week. I don't remember them ever cutting this deep, but when the skin peeled away after the blister broke, other shoes started cutting a groove into the soft flesh in the back of my ankle. Think Achilles' Heel. It really hurts.

What makes this picture really funny: I pulled a muscle in my side while trying to get this shot. Fun times.

These Shoes Aren't Made for Walking

Me out having dinner with two close friends, both of whom are avid runners:

Me: Yeah, so I'm thinking about getting new shoes for the 30k walk in September.
Friend 1: Don't you already have a pair?
Me: Yeah, but when I walk in them, my feet get really, really hot, after, like, 1 km. And when I take them off afterward, steam comes out of my shoes.
Friend 1: That' not good. But it'll take some time to break in new shoes.
Me: I know. The ones I have are pretty comfy. I mean, I put in two pairs of insoles inside them...
Friend 1: O_o WHY would you do that???
Me: Cuz' I don't have enough bounce in my step. And I felt like I was leaning backwards all the time.
Friend 2: That's not right. Those shoes aren't right. You're not supposed to do that.
Me: ...Yeah...well...I guess...

You'd think that, having worked at Foot Locker, I would have clued into the whole these-shoes-aren't-good-for-running thing. I actually have another pair of running shoes from those old days which I wear at work, but they're boys' size 6--about half a size too large and not great for long- distance anything. They're great for standing in, and for short jaunts, and they're damn snazzy; but not so good for much else.

So I went out today and bought new shoes. Nothing fancy--these New Balance WT460GPs were on sale ($59.99), and they fit. I've never been one to spend a lot on running shoes. The sales guy told me off the bat to put the Nikes down, despite my long-standing success with them for comfort, since I was doing a long-distance walk. As it is, these seem to be comfy enough, and give me the necessary support on the outer edge of my feet since I tend to supinate. I'm testing them around the house as I write this.

I also splurged on some fancy double-layer anti-blister socks (no, not the rainbow ones in the picture, though wouldn't THOSE be AWESOME?) as recommended by many of my colleagues who have done the 60k walk before. Interestingly, the sports shop had a pair that cost $1 extra and had a pink ribbon on them. I didn't buy those. I'm going to be surrounded by enough pink that day (it was unavoidable with my shoes). No need to remind myself why I'm doing this with socks.

On the fund-raising front, little sister Jenny has informed me that my cousin Kan is brining in a whole bunch of clean, still-in-good-condition garbage cans that her company is getting rid of for some reason. They're going to sell them at the hardware store (CAAM United Hardware, 160 Augusta Ave. in Kensington Market, celebrating 25 years in business!) and donate the proceeds directly to my campaign.

I asked her to give the project a classy, marketable name like Trash for Titties, or Cans for Cans.

Okay, maybe not.

More details to come!