The (b)Log of MF Delaney, Esquire

Johannes Cabal: The Necromancer

thatjerk666@gmail.com — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 06:17:00 +0000

So here we are, another week, another steam book. This week: Johannes Cabal, The Necromancer. I gotta say, I really like this one. It's not the steampunkiest book, per say, but it's pretty awesome no matter what.

For starters, its about about a necromancer. Specifically, a necromancer once written about by HP Lovecraft. You know. The Cthulhu guy.

It's mostly about Johannes Cabal and his quest to make one hundred people sign over their souls to the devil, so he can have his back. Yeah, he sold his to learn necromancy and defeat death. But he needs it back to do the defeating!

Anyway, Cabal makes a bet with the devil that he can get one hundred souls in one year. He's given a carnival to help him in this task, and an alloted amount of demonic magic to assist as well. We receive another supernatural character in the form of Cabal's brother, now a vampire (that had been locked in a basement for twelve years) due to Cabal's own screw up.

It all goes well and Cabal is up to ninety-eight souls when he arrives at Penlow. In Penlow, however, the people don't trust him, since he totally restored their rail station--complete with revived stationmaster--in a single night before he showed up. It is here in Penlow that Cabal must get his final two souls in one night. That night, he gets his first two truly good souls. The other ninety-eight were already walking the path to hell, but Cabal manages to convince two women who aren't to sign over their souls anyway.

Cabal then takes his box of signed-over souls to the devil, and tricks him into taking only the original ninety-eight souls, but still getting his own back.

Johannes Cabal: The Necromancer is funny. Jonathan Howard is just poking fun at any book about necromancers ever. But it's also a serious book; he wants us to watch Cabal be the most horrible person ever, and then fix it. Oh, yeah, by the way, Johannes Cabal is pretty much the biggest jackass of a character you will ever love. He's callous, uncaring, pompous, a know-it-all, and he pulls it off with wit and style. Johannes Cabal: Necromancer is the sort of dry, almost British humor we've become accustomed to from Terry Prattchet and Douglas Adams. If you read any of the books I put up here, dear god, let it be this one.

Sincerely,

Murphs

(PS: If you enjoyed this book, it has a very lovely sequel, Johannes Cabal: The Detective. It's set primarily on an airship. Squee!)

Dreadnought

thatjerk666@gmail.com — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 10:09:00 +0000

I know I said I'd read Escapement for last week, and I really did try! Honest! But I just couldn't wade through that monstrosity in a week. I know this because I read Dreadnought in about three days, interrupted by classes and other things, but I still haven't finished Escapement.

So I'll give you Dreadnought instead.

I'll start by saying this: Cherie Priest knows what her audience wants. I mean, she really knows what they're after. A little intrigue, a lot of gore, a touch of foreshadowing for the intuitive reader, and finally the big-ticket topic of the past three or so years, (Good god, has it been that long since zombie-mania started? Has it been longer?) good ol' Z.

Our main character starts in Richmond Hospital, under the guidance of Captain Sally Tompkins (This is especially exciting for me. Sally Tompkins was my great-however-manys-grandmother. No lie!) on the day that she receives the news her husband--who has been fighting for the confederates--is dead. In Dreadnought, Clementine and Boneshaker, the Civil War is about twenty years old. Not too long after, she gets a telegraph that her father (who left her and her mother years ago to chase gold in the Yukon) is dying, and his final wish is to see her.

So begins Mercy's (as she is called) long journey from Virginia to Tacoma. She begins with an airship ride headed to Fort Chattanooga that crashes, leaving her in the middle of a battle between mechanical walkers (Damn, that author knows what we want!!) and as a nurse, temporarily recruited to save a dying officer. After probably saving the man's life, Mercy gets to Chattanooga and then a short train ride later, to Memphis, where another set of circumstances involving her conspicuous Red Cross bag and the recruitment coming from it, sets her on a Texian boat heading up the Mississippi. From Memphis to St. Louis (dropping hints all along the way) the ride lulls, before suddenly we find Mercy riding the terrible Union train Dreadnought, supposedly carrying bodies of the dead out to their homes in the West, which will taker her all the way to Tacoma. It is this journey which is the real and true meat of the story, in my opinion.

Mercy is the only person with medical training on board for several weeks as the train winds through the west, curiously not dropping off any bodies at all. Confederate soldiers attack the train several times, and we hear stories about cannibalistic Mexicans from a Texian ranger and two Mexican inspectors, both trying to find out the same thing. Somewhere around Topeka, Mercy discovers one of the reasons for the Dreadnought's westward push: the Union is trying to buy Chinese immigrants with land and gold. The first two cars of the Dreadnought are filled with deeds and bars of gold. It is not until some time later that Mercy (spurred by a fellow traveler) discovers the purpose behind the last car in the line; it is filled with bodies, but not men who died honorably on the field. It's filled with sap-victims.

In the world of Dreadnought, sap is a drug originating from Seattle, where the Boneshaker (from the previous book) unearthed the a noxious gas that kills then reanimates.

The Union intends to use sap as a weapon, when they can figure out how. It isn't until a harrowing race through the only railroad pass in the Rockies that the final car is cut from the Dreadnought's line-up. But it isn't until the Dreadnought and it's current nemesis, the Shenandoah, get though the tunnel that the 'mystery' of the cannibal Mexicans is solved: they swarm the trains, killing all but four of the Shenandoah's crew. The rest of the book passes as a closing action. Mercy gets to Tacoma, where she is greeted by our last heroine, Briar Wilkes. Mercy's father is Swakhammer, a prominent character in Boneshaker, thought dead or dying by its readers. And there we are left.

I have to say, especially when compared to Mainspring and Escapement, Cherie Priest is indeed the high priestess of steampunk. We have everything we want, in the order we wanted it, and how we wanted it written. Mercy's way isn't easy, and she's in real danger sometimes. But she keeps her wits together, which is exactly what we want in a hero or heroine. Mercy does everything she can, even if she knows there's not much of a point. She's not perfect, either, but nosy in the way that all lady detectives start out as.

This isn't to say that Dreadnought is perfect. Many steampunk books ignore the lack of women's rights in the Victorian age, and although sometimes it seems like Ms. Priest forgets when she's writing, she often has people asking if she's travelling alone, and where her husband is.

All in all, I continue to appreciate Cherie Priest and her contribution to the steampunk lit scene (if there can be said to be such a thing.). Five gears.

In other steampunk-y news, Tor.com has, it seems, just concluded a steampunk fortnight after the success of their steampunk month not so long ago. If you enjoy anything I read for here, even Mainspring or its sequels, Tor is the place to look for more steam lit.

Yours,

Murphy

(PS: If you enjoyed this book, Cherie Priest has written two others currently in print and has a third book in the 'Boneshaker world' in the works. The two in print are the wonderful and stunningly popular Boneshaker, set in Seattle and following Briar Wilkes's tale, and Clementine, which I have not read yet, but promises to be good as it involves espionage!)

Mainspring

thatjerk666@gmail.com — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 18:11:00 +0000

Mainspring is probably not the sort of book a steampunk would ever point to as the ultimate steampunk book. Through the airships and the clockwork world, there's just not the sense of true adventure I consider necessary for steam lit.

Our story goes like this: The main character, Hethor, receives a vision from the angel Gabriel that he needs to find the Key Perilous and rewind the Earth's mainspring (hence, the name). So our hero runs about 'Northern Earth' for half the book before crossing this absolutely enormous gear that runs all around the Earth (called the Wall for its vast height). Past the Wall is Southern Earth, which is completely different from its northern counterpart. Here Hethor meets the 'correct people' and ends up taking a great many of them on his way all the way to the South Pole, where he descends into the clockwork center of the Earth, winds the mainspring, and everybody lives happily ever after.

I'm no book reviewer, but I like to think I've read enough to form a reasonably educated opinion of a story. And I have to say, I'm not a huge fan of Mainspring here. The plot is sort of disjointed, like there were parts Mr. Lake wanted in the story, and he was just chaining them all together. The main antagonist, William of Ghent, shows up at seemingly random points, and the protagonist's sagely helper seems to hinder him just as much.

I could probably rant for a few minutes on the protagonist himself, Hethor Jacques, but I'll limit myself to a few sentences. Hethor is bland. He reminds me of Vaan from Final Fantasy XII, namely, he doesn't truly seem connected to the story. On top of this, there's the problem that Hethor is never really truly in danger of failing his god-given quest. Enemies save him, friends fall, and there's even danger of freezing to death, but Hethor is never really in danger.

I slogged through this book because I promised I would, but I have to say, I don't have high hopes for Escapement.

Literally,

Murphy

Steampunk Reading Challenge

thatjerk666@gmail.com — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 19:15:00 +0000

I realise I haven't touched this blog in an age and a half, and I mostly apologise for that. Not all the way, though, because I really doubt anybody checked it. For those of you who are checking it now, I'm delighted to give you a reason to continue checking it.

The internet has yielded this: link. Yes! A steampunk reading challenge. I'm not exactly sure how it's a challenge, as this is it: 'The challenge runs from October to October and there are no obligations other than to have fun discovering a genre and let other participants know about what you find.' But I think I can make that into something usable. Oh! I've got it. Here's my steampunk challenge.

I will read one steampunk book a week.

My definition of a steampunk book will start with this list, and if that runs out I'll put out a new list. There's lots of lists of steampunk books on the internet. I won't be reading a book on that list for my three weeks, though. I've got Jay Lake's Mainspring books for that.

Of course, the Steam Con guest of honor this year is Cherie Priest, so I need to both purchase and read Dreadnough and Boneshaker. I've already read the latter, so I can't use it in my challenge. But I need to buy it for the con, so I can get it signed.

Miss me?

thatjerk666@gmail.com — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 07:46:00 +0000

The re-emergence of summer leaves me with little to do other than bore you all. So here we go!

I think this will be a summer of boredom, disappointment and anime. The first, because nobody's going to hire me. The second, because I'll continue to hope somebody'll hire me, only to be let down. And the last because why the hell not? Also, the second version of Fullmetal Alchemist (I like this version better.). I've really gotten behind on my Japanese girl cartoons.
There's a special edition of my summer, too. That's the one where I get a job or maybe go to Japan. Japan's seeming less and less likely, though, due to issues of meeting up. That makes me super-sad, but it's alright. It's not like I've never been, right?

Whatever,
Murphs

THANK YOU BRASS GOGGLES.

thatjerk666@gmail.com — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 18:16:00 +0000

I don't believe I've been this excited since Steam Con. There's a feature-length Jasper Morello in the works, and if I'm to believe the lovely and well-informed people of BG, it should be out soon! This is really just terribly exciting, you know. Or maybe you don't. If you haven't seen the original, which I believe I've previously raved about, you really do have to. Especially since I probably won't shut up about this now. Yay!

Murphy

Oh my goodness!

thatjerk666@gmail.com — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 18:15:00 +0000

Now that I'm back into the regular schedule of school (read; on a computer and unwilling to work) I think you'll find a lot more posts coming. Mostly, though, I've rejoined the Brass Goggles Forum, which has again proven itself to be a plethora of steampunky information (Look for me! I'm Shangri La Postal!)
Already, I've been reminded that I have to register for Steamcon II. Registration just started a couple days ago, so they're definitely not sold out yet. And utter joy, Abney Park is playing again! It's worth the extra money to see them, their show is almost as amazing as their music. It's a pity, though, that Vernian Process isn't playing again, even if they were wicked loud last year.
I have also discovered that there is a tea house in Newport. Honest! It's The Foxwood Teahouse, available on reservation. It seems like a really neat place, though I don't think I'd ever get to go. Who would I invite?
But that's beside the point. The point is, would they hire me?! (Laughable)
Well, I'll leave you all alone for now, with the exception of this last link. Words can't tell you how jealous I am of that man.

Murphy

Been Busy

thatjerk666@gmail.com — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 03:21:00 +0000

Anybody who reads my blog either already knows or was the victim of why I haven't posted in a while. But just in case somebody else reads this, I'll tell you the bare basics, to spare him.
My boyfriend went longboarding without his helmet, fractured his skull and was in hospital for a week, rehabilitation for a week and has been stuck at his parents' for almost two weeks. I've been busy taking care of him.
Besides that, my schedule is rather convoluted this quarter, and I've been scrambling to figure it all out. Luckily, I have.
I told you all when I got into Evergreen and I'll tell you all now that I've also been accepted at Portland State. Now, of course, I don't know if I'm going anywhere.
In other news, there really isn't any other news. As per any graduating student, my parents have demanded senior pictures, which I am deeply opposed to, though I know I will do it anyway. I also suspect they want a graduation party, but really, who would I invite?

Definitely hardly working,
Murphy

Song Away

thatjerk666@gmail.com — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:09:00 +0000

The Steampunk Scholar has once again proven himself a valuable source for steampunkery. Here is an article on the steampunk 'tribes;' the various collections of like-minded steampunks (because there can be huge differences betwixt one and another). I have to say, after reading his article (The full article is at Exhibition Hall, another SP publication.) I know myself for a Browncoat Timelord (BT)/Carriger Pigeon hybrid. It's not so bad a thing to be.
Anyway. I'm going to Sakura Con again this year! I think I've mentioned that, but maybe I didn't, and either way, you know now. I doubt I'll be doing any cosplay, but I'll be steaming it up anyway. It's getting mainsteam enough that I may not be the only one. Anyway, that's what Original Characters are for, right (I can just say it's in the works over in Japan. People'll totally believe me...)? Do you think I should bring my enormous hat? Hah.
In other news, I have been accepted to a college, which is simply unbelieveable, isn't it? Fingers crossed for the others, ne (So not going to happen.)?
In other-other news, I am mortified with the schedule I have at SFCC now. The International Relations course I'm taking for my bloody civics credit is between the ridiculous hours of 1.00 and 3.15, Thursdays and Tuesdays. Srsly. I was so super-pissed when they changed the time from the original 10.30 to 11.30. That's a reasonable time for me. Now for three days a week I have one damn class. That's sure worth the hour and half to drive. And it's bloody Japanese too. Maybe I should just drop Japanese. It's not like I'm really keen on learning anymore, I just keep taking it. Weird...
Anyway.
To Ned; I somewhat regret to inform you that my spring break will hardly be noteworthy for your RLA 'zine. Try Joel. Maybe Donovan.
I'll post my expedition to Seattle, hopefully with a picture or two in early April.

Yours,
Murphy

Grawr rawr rawr decisions

thatjerk666@gmail.com — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 20:22:00 +0000

I think we all know I'm pretty bad at making decisions. I can't prove this, and maybe some of the RLA kids who have made me rage over the past years would say other wise (especially rage in the kitchen), but really, I'm terrible at it. But I'm really just wasting time right now trying to decide what I want to eat for luncheon and what I want to do right now. You definitely know I'm a time-waster.
Normally I don't bother blogging because I have nothing to say. Well, I still have nothing to say, but I haven't written recently because I have been playing WoW. (Hey Bryce, Ned--Does anybody else remember that presentation? That was a laugh...) It was pretty funny when I showed Bryce's hand motions-- W - o - W-- to John when we were talking about it. I'm even okay at the game itself (which you and I just lost).
You're probably already sick of me after this, so I'll leave for another hiatus and not return for half a month. You probably preferred the semi-intelligent posts I used to put up when I still talked to Ned on a semi-daily basis. Sure does suck to be you.

Murphy

Cold

thatjerk666@gmail.com — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 00:11:00 +0000

It's been kinda cold lately, hasn't it? At least I think so. I've hardly been able to get warm anywhere. But those last three statements were just to bore you to death so you wouldn't bother reading the rest of my post.

I hate midterms. Well, you all probably know that I hate tests in general, especially standardized ones (anybody remember my anger at the WASL so long ago?). But midterms hold a new special place on my list of crap I loathe. Especially my English 101 midterm that I wasn't informed was a midterm. Awesome, right? Right. At least I passed. And not a low pass either.

Tomorrow is the Japanese midterm, which I cannot say I am looking forward to. I'm starting to forget why I'm taking this blasted language. Why am I taking this? It's not so I can understand the anime like many who're taking it. Nor do I have any interest in Japanese women like the rest of the class. Why am I taking this??

Anyway, it's late. I'm leaving you all at that.

Murphs

Really Bloody Tiresome

thatjerk666@gmail.com — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:14:00 +0000

I'll admit it right now. I hate all my classes. I hate school. I'm so sick of coming to this place everyday to learn things I don't care about at an hour when I'm not really consious yet. This, of course, begs the question of why I'm going to university then. to be perfectly honest, I have no bloody idea. I don't actually want to go. I want to wash my hands of school systems. Any of them!
I guess what I'm trying to say is that right now, I've only got a few things going in my life. There's only one or two I actually enjoy. Other than gaming and hanging out with John, I don't have any ambition to do anything. This reemergence of RLA apathy outside of RLA is making me question whether or not I'm a motivated person, which I guess I'm not.
Sorry, RLA. It's not you, it's me.

-Murphy

Yeah, Okay

thatjerk666@gmail.com — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 04:06:00 +0000

I did exaggerate a little on my last post, but you're here to be entertained with my wild hyperboles, not bored by recountings of rereading the words to 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' I've got posted on my wall next to Ganon (by god, yes, I named my new computer Ganon). Oh! You! Pretty chitty bang bang, chitty chitty bang bang we love you!
Seriously, I just bored myself writing that.

Yawn,
Murphs

Regret

thatjerk666@gmail.com — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:43:00 +0000

I need to get my Running Start Reccommendation Form filled out. This fills me with dispair. The most obvious reason, I think, is fairly clear to us all. I have to go to RLA. If their blog is any indication of how far the social situation has fallen, I am terrified to step a single foot into Ned's room, partially in fear I may understand anything they're talking about.

Also that they may have fallen far enough to bring me down and eat me alive.

Yours,

Murphy

How Exciting!

thatjerk666@gmail.com — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 09:05:00 +0000

So, among other things, I have found that my DnD group (that's Dungeons and Dragons, for the uninitiated) is going to meet on Monday. Whee! I have to say, we hadn't done anything in so long I was beginning to lose hope; but no more! There's a high probablity that we'll be starting on a new campaign anyway, since I believe we lost the old one (Not to mention it was ridiculous and I totally lost track of everything we were doing.).
But in other, more exciting news, a fourth Pirates of the Caribbean movie is in the works, due to be released summer, 2011. It's called On Stranger Tides, and since the plot was bought from none other than the steampunky Tim Powers, we can allegedly look forward to a little more steampunkery. By the by, you can bet your cogs I've got to read this book before the movie, and yes, yes I will dress up just as steampunk as I did for the release of Sherlock Holmes.
Less exciting but more pressing is the imminent return of school. Monday morning, I get to wake up at an unreasonably hour to attend my PoliSci class, American Government, at 7.30 in the morning. Now, why, you ask, would I ever go to a class that potentially boring at such an ungodly hour? Well, friends, it's because they don't offer it at any other time. And to make things even better, I can't find any class at 8.30 to occupy me before Japanese II (I will, by the way Ned, haunt the Japanese V class, though I'm way out of my league.).

So drink up, me hearties, yo ho!
-Murphy

thatjerk666@gmail.com — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:08:00 +0000

You want to know something really weird? Even though I haven't updated since the seventh, (Sorry!) I've gotten sixty-seven hits. You people seem to like me more when I don't write. Is that how it is?
Anyway, you're probably all waiting for an update on Spatterdash!, aren't you? Well, the plot is in place and more or less all scripted out. I've got a rough copy of my front page. And Mr. Lasky is going to help me make the site look awesome, hopefully. I'm rusty on all my html coding.
So, I'll go back to working for now, since you're I'm just wasting time.

Yours,
Murphy

Dash it all!

thatjerk666@gmail.com — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 08:53:00 +0000

I've noticed a serious flaw in the steampunk apparel I want to wear. Namely, I am far too skinny to properly pull of a corset. Or even a f aux corset! I'm definitely no Lolo. As most steampunk ladies find them an essential to a properly steamy wardrobe, I am at a loss. Truly.
I mean, it's not as if they're goggles or anything, but really. Advice?

Yours,
Murphs

Wormtooth Nation

thatjerk666@gmail.com — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 12:05:00 +0000

Can you believe you're getting two posts in the same week? I haven't written you this much since RLA; I guess I'm just bored less now.
You may have noticed a new banner on the side there; it's way toward the bottom of my vast sidebar. Wormtooth Nation. It's as if someone mixed the grittiest parts of City of Ember with, apparently, Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. As you've guessed already, it's brilliant and steampunk from any angle.
Don't let the picture up there fool you; this is no animation, not like the equally awesome Mysterious Geographical Adventures of Jasper Morello (I didn't give that the enthusiastic review it deserved, by the way.). Live action, this one. Sometimes the quality is a little iffy, but the good intentions, excellent aesthetics and wonderful story more than make up for it. Plus, it's that indie-movie quality that solidifies it as steampunk (though that may have been all the dirt... steampunk's pretty grimy...).

Still dedicated,
Murphs

Work, work, work...

thatjerk666@gmail.com — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 01:05:00 +0000

Last you heard from me, I had set out in my quest to fully live steampunk. Well, I'm still working on that. But in more recent news, (Is it bad that I first spelled that 'moar'? Note to self: less time on the internets.) I'm about done with all my university application-type things. This has, by the way, simultaneously been the most grueling and boring task in my adolescent life. Do adults have to do this sort of paperwork all the time? My god.
That aside. Spatterdash! is looking up; I've got about twenty pages of draft, and I think this story is half-done. It's kind of hard to tell sometimes. But I can promise real, honest-to-the-gods pages online by the new year. Especially with the lovely large break I have coming up!
Would you believe that this is the last real week of lessons at SFCC? Next week is all finals and then... Done! (Until Winter Quarter. >.<) Even finals week will be super easy, except for the Japanese IV, just to see how good I am (I got a great big list of verbs! Huzzah!).

Yours,
Murphs

Upping the Game

thatjerk666@gmail.com — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:53:00 +0000

I can't do it anymore.
No more sitting back with my steampunk. I've been pretty complacent until now. I tried, the way I half-heartedly tried a lot of other things. But this is not other things. This is STEAMPUNK, something I'm goddamn passionate about. So no more.
This is it, friends. Whatever happens in the next few years--graduation, university, Japan, whatever--steampunk is here to stay, and by god, I will do it myself. Even if I can afford to order all the absolutely gorgeous things I see on Etsy(Yeah, right.), I will not.
This is my steampunk declaration, my promise; no more half-heartedness. I will make outfits so that I may be SP everyday. I will work on jewelry, because I love it, and SP is a lot about the brickabrack. I will actually make Spatterdash! this time, and BY GOD I WILL KEEP IT UP. I will read the books, I will watch the films, I will listen to all the music I can get my hands on.
Let the game begin.

Yours sincerely,
Murphs

Æther Shanties

thatjerk666@gmail.com — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 23:16:00 +0000

December First. There are nine days until I can finally--FINALLY--order Æther Shanties, Abney Park's newest--and if we are to believe Captain Robert, greatest--album. We were supposed to get it a while ago, like, August. But a heat wave hit Seattle, and cracked a hard drive in the Abney Park non-air-conditioned studio.
I will take this as a good thing, though, as this means that we, the listeners, get to hear Jody, the new background singer/dancer! (The link takes you to a wonderful picture of Ms. Ellen.) She was just wonderful at Steam-Con, and I expect, based on the things other people are saying around on the internet, that her vocals in this are going to be beautiful.
Some of the new songs include 'Until The Day I Die' and 'Victoria'. You should totally check out those two links, even if Victoria is one of the saddest songs I've ever heard.

Counting down the days,
Murphs

Suspicious.

thatjerk666@gmail.com — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 04:13:00 +0000

This entry is titled 'suspicious' for two reasons. The first is that I think somebody at RLA is stalking my blog so that they can always have a brand-new entry on the Rivercity Blog exactly one day after I post. I'm justified in that it's happened at least five times since school began (or some other incredulous number). The second is that I am posting at all. It should probably be a pretty good hint to us all that if I'm posting on my blog, for god's sake, either something of fantastic magnitude has happened or I'm procrastinating.
You're all pretty lucky to-day; both have happened, but I'm only going to blather on and on about the latter. After all, it's the events that you're interested in, not my personal life, ね?
I'm supposed to be working on my take-home sociology class--which we all know I'm taking on a lark--exam. It's due tomorrow, at 11.55 PM, but I'm not going to be home at 11.55 tomorrow. I'm going to be at a gathering of the SFCC Anime Club; something I have, surprisingly, stuck to (which may or may not be accredited to the fact they're taking ten helpful members to Sakura-Con for a highly discounted price. Your call.). Does this club make me look callous?
But back to the exam. It's only seven parts (with about a billion questions in each part and a minimum of one hundred words--AHAHAHA!!!! ONLY ONE HUNDRED!?--to each part), so it should be pretty easy to bullshit my way through it. After all, I did get 100% on a horrendous paper on Ada Lovelace--the first programmer and involved with the Babbage Analytical Engine, if you've already forgotten my love affair with steampunk--that Ned wouldn't have accepted as litterbox liner.
Are you reading this, Ned?! You've over-prepared me! I could have increased my slack by about 25% and still be doing absolutely fabulous. So stop telling everybody you're preparing them for college; the instructor didn't even want MLA format. Are you reading this?
Should a certain awesome boyfriend read this; don't you dare take any blame. I'm just lazy (Oops, look like I gave away my personal life anyway. Haha, I'm doing it to annoy you all.)

It's okay if you're not reading this,
Murphs

Over!

thatjerk666@gmail.com — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 04:53:00 +0000

So I know I haven't posted in a while, nor did I visit RLA last Tuesday, but my excuse is legitimate; I was studying (or pretending to study) for my SATs, taken on Saturday the seventh. But now that the SATs and the SATs recovery session is over, I can talk to you all again!
Hey. I kinda missed you; how have things been? Pretty good? That's good.
My days have been going by in a blur of study guides, school and staring blankly at the ceiling of the room where I reside. I've also decided to slowly work though my ridiculous amounts of Agatha Christie. So far, I've only gotten through Murder on the Orient Express, but a start's a start, ne?
I get to register for winter quarter classes on the sixteenth. From what I can tell, I'll be taking Japanese II, American Government (which is at 7.30 in the bloody morning. Is there no karma?), English (101? Something else?) and then a couple slacker-core PE courses (since I've been lying to most people I know and dropped Yoga day two). How does that look, Ned?
I say that, but I'll doubtless have already dropped by RLA by the time he checks my blog.
In other exciting news, it looks like the Zephyr, my dream of a zeppelin, is another step toward coming true. Of course, that may not be the name, but I do like the look of it, don't you? Zephyr.
Anyway, I've taken enough of your day. Go do something with the rest of it!

Yours,
Murphs

The Halloween Entry!

thatjerk666@gmail.com — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 02:55:00 +0000

I know that yesterday was Halloween, and it's already seven on the first, but bear with me, yeah? I've been pretty tired recently.
The Halloween events put on by the clubs of SFCC were so much fun. Honestly, if I'd had people that awesome for the dances I attended in middle/high school (I only attended one high school event, I'll admit), I would have undoubtedly enjoyed them a lot more. I've also this to say to the International Club (the people who put on the after-carnival dance); please play something that's not rap-hip-hop-crap. Sure, they pulled out Thriller and the Macarena (everybody knows the Macarena). But come on.
Enough of my complaints. The whole affair was really terribly fun, and I won another costume competition (the first being the Anime Club's contest, thank you all!). I also danced in public again. Can you believe it? (I can't.)

Now that it's November, I'm probably not going to update as much as usual (which is hardly at all), since it's National Novel-Writing Month! I'm going to make it to 50,000 words this year, by hook or by crook, damnit! I've got a good feeling, since I'm already five hundred words deep.

Yours,
Murphs

Here you are, the Main Event

thatjerk666@gmail.com — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 05:15:00 +0000

Steam-Con was the only place this week-end where one could shout, 'Hey you, with the top hat and brass goggles!'--two typically distinguishing features--and twenty heads would turn. That is, presuming the Fancy Welder's Society didn't have a get-together as well.

It was really a marvelous weekend, and I can describe it simply in two ways. One: awesome. Two: Next Year.
The people of the con were awesome. Polite, clever, funny, smart, well-costumed and well-versed in what steampunk really was. I was hugely intimidated by the lot, which leads me to my second description.
Next year was mantra between me and my traveling companion, Miss 'Lola Miles'. There was somebody with an absolutely wicked-brilliant costume; next year, we told each other. There was a panel we missed because I forgot my schedule book; next year. We missed a great deal of dancing (albeit badly) to a DJ's music; NEXT YEAR.
This isn't to say that despite all our next-yearing, we didn't have a smashing time. Among our many busy accomplishments, we saw Abney Park live, twice (once for the proper concert and once for a Victorian Sing-a-long), participated to some degree in the Girl Genius Radio Theatre, LARP'ed and found out how to steam-punk our table-top RPG--that is, assuming we ever start one.
Some things at the con were--to me, anyway, rather surprising. Most notably, the average age of the people there. While there was a smattering of minors and a fair few twenty-somethings, the majority of the con-goers appeared to be at least thirty. Perhaps it is strange of me to be surprised like that; who else has the money for SP?
Less notably, but more surprising for me is that the members of Abney Park has their children with them. Only Daniel, the bassist and Captain Robert, lead singer/drummer have them, but the three little girls were both adorable and disarming in their own way. This struck me as Miss Lola and I passed Capt. Robert and his two daughters (Isabella and Chloe, I believe) on their and our way to panels. Truly bizarre.
The aftermath of Steam-Con is not going to leave me soon, I can tell that. I have no desire to tone-down my steam-powered vocabulary anymore, nor to tuck my goggles away safe and sound back onto my lamp. I worked madly toward the end of my con preparations, and I believe though I will keep a slower pace, I will not stop working toward increasing my seamstress skills.
Now the hour is late, and I'm almost done copying all the work-book pages from Hai, Ima! that Ned lent me. It's chock-full of kanji, so it may help me and Joel in the Japanese IV class we're sitting in on.

Yours sincerely,
Murphs