Bechuga

Getting back into Danmaku Unlimited 2, bullet hell shmup. The djent soundtrack is wicked. I tried streaming this game but turns out all those bullets turn into mush through a compressed video stream.

Made a tray of pretty decent looking treacle flapjacks on my first try. Now to resist eating the whole lot in one go. That smell...

I don't smoke, these were bought for a co-worker who was too lazy to buy his own in the morning (and has now been fired for stealing, so I don't have to do it any more).

Presented without context

Svetlana Alexievich's Chernobyl Prayer. Quite bleak.

Remind yourself that overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer.

Many (first world) humans do. I am, luckily I have fun and feel satisfied regardless of where the material ends up. In fact, a novel I shelved has given me an idea for a sequel, which is far more weird and interesting than its precursor, so it's not all a waste. Maybe I can just call these rejects 'first drafts'. And I have to get a good splash in the bowls of an agent first, let alone publisher. I do wonder how sellable most of my ideas are. I don't think the market is exactly open for a story where a detective tries to rescue a child held hostage by his own imaginary friend. When I originally replied asking about if you'd gotten help from an editor or writer, I meant your 'old' novels more than the new one...but it could be equally good if you're getting new ideas based on the old ideas. Not sure where in the 'becoming a real writer!' process finding an agent comes from, but I imagine it's one of the first things to do, for sure. One writer I heard speak a few years ago just actually contacted an agent on Twitter and asked her about it and boom, she was being published soon after. Good luck on it! And honestly that's exactly the sort of books that are often out there...an 'established' style (detective rescuing a child) with a twist. Just gotta have an angle/gimmick/whatever and it could surely take. Getting an agent is either having a foot in the door or incredible luck of having the agent give a shit on the day you send them a sample (and also your sample being something they like). Contact on twitter ended with one agent blocking me! All I did was ask 'are you accepting manuscript submissions'. Tough crowd.

You just need the right idea, I have one: Scientist find out that all viruses originally stem from another outer space but before they came to earth they traveled through a gravitation field in which time passes by much slower (according to theory of relativity). Some of their brothers and sisters didn't do that and had billions of years time to develop a complex and mysterious intelligence and now set out for earth to find their primitive forebears. Does that sound like the best selling bestseller 2017 or not? It sounds like a best seller from 1974 I have plenty of ideas, it's simply getting them to appear as interesting as they sound in my head on paper. Often they do, often not. I still like my first book, and I feel proud at how weird it is. Has its flaws, but satisfied with it. Have you run it by an editor/another writer whose opinions you trust? Maybe you just need some guidance/outside perspective. I haven't, but I don't think this is worth showing. Will leave it on my HD and see how I feel in time. Can always change my mind and resume from where I left off, after doing something else for a while. Keep at it man, I've a hard drive full of fiction stuff I've plugged away on and looking back, most of it's shite, even stuff that I thought was pretty decent at the time. But there is a progression there. It's gotten better slowly but surely. Still not good, still not worth sending off. But better. And I wouldn't trade those hours 'wasted' on writing stories for anything. When I hear a tune off any of a succession of 'writing playlists' I've had over the years it instantly warps me right back to sitting at my tiny desk in my mum and dad's house when I was 16, typing out mad wee epics, instant nostalgia trip. Or wherever I've been writing since. At the end of the day, you do it for the rush, the adaptation, etc. Ideas come and go; sometimes you just have to let them bake, like a turd, and it'll drop out when it's ready. One day you will hear the sound of your bookturd splashing into the receptive bowl of a publisher's willing arms. Keep 'er lit. I am, luckily I have fun and feel satisfied regardless of where the material ends up. In fact, a novel I shelved has given me an idea for a sequel, which is far more weird and interesting than its precursor, so it's not all a waste. Maybe I can just call these rejects 'first drafts'. And I have to get a good splash in the bowls of an agent first, let alone publisher. I do wonder how sellable most of my ideas are. I don't think the market is exactly open for a story where a detective tries to rescue a child held hostage by his own imaginary friend.

Missed the blue record! Poop. Oh well, black will do.

Once got shouted at by a goth for calling One Piece 'comics', was told explicitly that it's manga, they're different things from comics, call it manga. So easily triggered, these comics people.

*puts money in holster, readies trigger finger* edit: I bought the album from Boomkat but never bought it digitally. Didn't realise you got all the albums for that price! There isn't a pre-purchase link for Boomkat or anything I'm missing? Also the amount of support for the bandcamp release warms me heart. Kirby finally gets what he deserves.

1CC or gtfo

You just need the right idea, I have one: Scientist find out that all viruses originally stem from another outer space but before they came to earth they traveled through a gravitation field in which time passes by much slower (according to theory of relativity). Some of their brothers and sisters didn't do that and had billions of years time to develop a complex and mysterious intelligence and now set out for earth to find their primitive forebears. Does that sound like the best selling bestseller 2017 or not? It sounds like a best seller from 1974 I have plenty of ideas, it's simply getting them to appear as interesting as they sound in my head on paper. Often they do, often not. I still like my first book, and I feel proud at how weird it is. Has its flaws, but satisfied with it. Have you run it by an editor/another writer whose opinions you trust? Maybe you just need some guidance/outside perspective. I haven't, but I don't think this is worth showing. Will leave it on my HD and see how I feel in time. Can always change my mind and resume from where I left off, after doing something else for a while.

Book I'm 260 pages into writing has died. No longer feel much interest in it. If the idea survives, it will probably be in a different form, meaning 100,000 words scrapped. Welp. In fact, I've done a bunch of work over the last few years and none of it has become a final thing I really believe in. Have three completed novels on my HD but nothing I feel assured in releasing. How many more times will I write something only to find out way too late it's not what I want it to be? Welp welp welp. Now I know how Jonathan Franzen feels. Although he has millions of dollars to help him sleep at night while failing to write books.

Thanks for the suggestions, I bought a pallet of ham. Seeing as I don't eat meat, it's the worst thing I could have done. Merzbox So much Merzbow in such a small box... Would like to read the book. If only they sold it separately.

The water bill I was fearing* was so tiny I almost did a dance in surprise and glee. What do I do with all this money I don't have to spend on it? *bought a flat that had been unlived in for a while, so I expected old huge fees to come my way from unpaid utilities. Also, it's been a year (and two months) since I bought it, homeowner for a year . Woop.

I read a game developer say that most game design is creating mess for the gamer to clean up. In a sense, you're not exploring a world, you're just finding the stuff the developers have strewn about it. Most gamers are just janitors.

Finished Mao II by Don Delillo. Pretty great, eerie to see how accurate he was about the current culture 26 years ago, especially terrorism. And it was nice to read a book that isn't 500+ pages for once. Next is Those Who Leave And Those Who Stay by Elena Ferrante. Which is a 400+ page book.

no it didn't Well, some would consider his mental state a neurological problem - but for him it worked, he feels high all the time now

Finally completed Death Skid Marks. Hard game! Actually beat it twice in the space of a week, hope to beat it more times while the going is good.

Are you officially chosen? When I was summoned I was one among what seemed like more than 100 people. They call people up at random from that group and then the defendant and prosecutor accept or veto who they want or don't want. They had chosen the 12 before my name was called. It was a pretty boring waste of an afternoon. I was actually hoping I would get selected because it would have been interesting to see a court case first hand. Plus I could tell the accused was guilty as fuck just by looking at him. No, just received my letter, which I will be sending off tomorrow to confirm it. Hopefully I do my two weeks and go back to work but a coworker recently spent four months off work on a massive trial and I fear the same happening. Especially as I have two weddings at the end of June and would be horrified to find out it causes problems. Welp.

Summoned for jury duty. Found first spider in my flat since moving in. Tooth ache. Life is ending as I know it.

Don't do it?

It was a lot more than 108 tracks, I remember somewhere about 20 rars with 12 songs each. I do have em on disc somewhere but honestly, one zip of it is enough.