So, those of us here in America celebrate this holiday called Thanksgiving every November. Though there is a historical purpose to it, mostly it’s just a time to feast on turkey with cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie with your family… unless you work in retail and live about 600 miles from your nearest relative, which makes it too much hassle to try and see them on Thanksgiving. And you live in an apartment which has a kitchen that could barely be described as being bigger than a breadbox, much less house one, so there’s no way you’re cooking your own turkey dinner. (I don’t think a turkey would actually fit in our kitchen.) And there are no restaurants open on Thanksgiving in your area, save for IHOP and the diner that you refuse to patronize ever again due to the owner’s anti-gay and anti-woman declarations.

And the IHOP didn’t have turkey or pumpkin pie, though the lingonberry sauce that comes with the Swedish pancakes is pretty close to cranberry sauce.

But really, a Thanksgiving dinner with Marshall and David (both family to me for all intents and purposes) and funnel cakes with apples and caramel was almost as good. Better in some ways I guess, considering that I didn’t have to deal with those relatives I’d really just as well never see again anyway, you know? Plus, I’m at the IHOP so often that I’ve begun to think of them as family. (Which really is not nearly as pathetic as that probably comes across.)

Those of you who also celebrated the day before the Christmas shopping season officially begins… how was your Thanksgiving? Mind you, I’d probably know if I’d been keeping up with your blogs, right? But you see… the time. Oh the time, how it slips away.

I believe it might be a bit ironic that the only thing I’ve posted here in three weeks was an update to the link for keeping up with the blog via RSS. (Though I could in fact be wrong in stating that. Much like Lelaina Pierce and Alanis Morissette, I’ve never been very clear on the proper use for the word irony.)

I wish I could say it’s because I’ve been writing this fabulous novel, having participated in NaNoWriMo and all, but alas. The novel got stuck at about 14,000 words, and I got busy. Freaking busy, to be more precise. Aside from work, where the early holiday shoppers are keeping me on my tip-toes constantly, there have been a few free concerts to attend (specifically: Bon Jovi - eh, never was a big fan anyway - and Bob Mould - better, but I’d really like to see him with an actual band), MADDOF™ (which has become a weekly spectacle of debauchery, at least food related debauchery), and lunches with the ladies (or, a lunch with a lady at least). Then there was the preview screening of Ice Harvest (verdict: not nearly as bad as the reviews I’d read had led me to think it would be, and my man is in almost every scene which alone was quite worth it), the viewing of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory finally (though I almost wish I hadn’t watched it now, because I wasn’t too fond of it really), and many repeated viewings of The Dresden Dolls’ Paradise DVD. Add to that all the technical geeky stuff, like moving the aforementioned lady’s blog from Blogger to WordPress (a highly recommended endeavor), spending some time researching open source ecommerce and bulletin board software, and exploring the world of Firefox extensions (second only to tabbed browsing as a reason I much prefer Firefox)… and you can see that leaves precious little time for blog reading and novel writing. Or sleep for that matter.

Though the time has slipped away, I did quite enjoy all the insanity, even if I didn’t write the great American novel in 30 days.

I do, however, have a good start to a halfway decent short story, though it’s unlikely it will ever be read by anyone other than me. It would be too easy for anyone who knows me to pick out the autobiographical portions (because really, pure fiction just ain’t my thing) and it’s a little bit too private.

And… um, sorry about the nasty earworm I just gave you with the title. Unless you’re lucky enough to not recognize the reference, I’m betting you’ll be singing that tune for at least three hours after reading this.

Just a quickie here - this novel writing business is kicking my ass. Of course, I have to take a few breaks here and there (and there, and there, and there when I’m really procrastinating) and during one of those, I got started playing around with silly little techno-geek things. My point being, if you use RSS to keep up with me here, I’d really appreciate it if you’d switch your subscription to this feed (http://feeds.feedburner.com/FruitFly) rather than whatever you’ve been using up till now.

Assuming that anyone actually A. Uses RSS and B. Subscribes to my blog’s RSS.

I’ll give you a tidbit just to make this almost interesting, though I feel as though I’m breaking news that isn’t my own to break: The now nearly infamous Danny (or Katrinka, if he’s in a mood) is working at Diverse Universe on weekday mornings. So now you have two reasons to stop by and say hello if you’re in the area, though the sheer draw of gay porn and non-stop thumpa thumpa music really should be enough to entice you. Well, those of you who are inclined to like such things anyway. The rest of you will have to settle for me or Danny.

Add it to the list of reasons why I’m not having kids: I would purposefully expose my children to horrible, violent, and lewd things that would scar them for life. At least according to the concerned parents who post reviews of kids products on Amazon.

After seeing the Dresden Dolls perform “Pierre”, I hit a patch there where I was dying to see Really Rosie again. Unfortunately, it’s not been released on DVD yet, and though there are VHS tapes that go up on eBay from time to time, the price is usually more than I’ve got to spend. Even if I did have the money available, a 10 year old (or more) VHS tape is going to be of questionable quality (even if it’s never been played).

Luckily, Scholastic has released a DVD that has parts of Really Rosie on it. Where The Wild Things Are and Other Maurice Sendak Stories has a section called The Nutshell Library that brings us clips from the special - “Alligators All Around”, “Pierre”, “One Was Johnny”, and “Chicken Soup With Rice.” (In addition to the title feature and these clips from Really Rosie there’s In the Night Kitchen as well.) It’s not exactly what I wanted, but it’s close enough that I used the Amazon Gift Certificate I received as a birthday gift to order it. (Along with the remastered soundtrack to Really Rosie.)

Let me tell you, it’s fabulous. I mean, look, it was made in 1975, (At least the RR was first released then - I don’t know the actual years for the other parts of the DVD.) so the animation isn’t what I’d call cutting edge by any means. But it is still nice to look at, being Maurice Sendak and all, and the music is great, and well, it’s just a lot of fond memories. I couldn’t remember if I’d ever seen an animated WTWTA, but when I started watching it, I instantly knew I’d seen if before, because I totally remember the music from it. It’s this crazy jazz sort of thing with narration that’s strange and different, which to me is what makes it wonderful. I remember ITNK as well, even though until I watched this DVD I had no real memories of it.

I suppose some of my adoration is a product of nostalgia, but really, I think a lot of these stories are great little tales for kids, tales that emphasize imagination and really, independence.

It would seem that I am not fit to parent because I think this though. Several reviewers on Amazon are appalled, APPALLED I say, that Scholastic would release such a violent and horrible thing and market it at kids aged 3 - 8.

(more…)

I start writing a novel today. I’m still questioning my sanity.

So, in lieu of writing here, I present pictures of the annual re-invention.

Me, a couple of weeks ago:

Now, sans spectacles and with a new color of hair. (Though it’s nearly impossible to really capture this color in pictures. That’s what’s taken me so long to get these up… this still doesn’t quite show it right.) You get a close-up view and a a further away shot in which I look really pissy. I really am a nice person who laughs a lot, despite the photographic evidence to the contrary. I swear it.