Trying this Cafe Press shtuff, mostly for my own use and that of my friends. http://www.cafeshops.com/minotaur seems like a nice little addy to me. *g* Eh. I'll put a link up on the main page when it's all set up. Not gotten everything together yet, as I'm still learning, and much of my already completed artwork which I'd like to do all this stuff with is too small. The lack of scanner means I can't redo the image at a decent size either. The last batch of pics are the only ones saved at a large one, and that through sheer luck because I hadn't deleted them yet. So while I'll be using a couple of the black and whites, I'm also having to recolor the ones I wanted to work with. *rubs eyes* Which at this bigger size is going to take even longer. Oy.

Still trying like hell to get a job. Any job. Even flipping burgers again is palatable at this point. Need -money-. Bills to pay. Bah. The economy really bites right now. On the up side, it's given me the chance to look at going back to school, and get back into writing The Hart, which has languished too long, as well as the short story And I was Cast Towards Home. Maybe more progress will be made on them. Imagine that.

Kaz

Rarest of the Wild was recommended reading in Elfwood's Woodworks for February 2003 - http://www.woodworksezine.com/2003/issue05_feb/columns/reading.html

This is the second work I've had as recomended reading - Minotaur Lullaby made it back in August of 2002, and I must say, I'm rather bemused by it all. Rarest of the Wild is one of my oldest works, and has gone through so many revisions - the latest version of which is now updated in the Wyvern's Library gallery, since I'm looking to perhaps publish it - and yet, whenever I actually get that random email from someone commenting on my writing, it's invariably about Rarest of the Wild. Maybe because out of my longer works, it's actually finished. It has an ending, though the editing never seems to stop. Who knows. It's just another thing that makes me chuckle and scratch my head, though I'm honored that someone recommended me at all. Thanks. :)

Writing letters is a funny thing. In today's custom of cursory notes and the dreaded shorthand I call hackerspeak - which is the practice of substituting one letter for words, having more than one acronym for several common words in the same sentence, forgetting all capitals and correct punctuation, numbers scattered among letters for no reason whatsoever - as well as brief email messages, what's a letter? An honest to God letter, with a salutation, indentation, formal language... that thing our teachers had to drill into our heads in school, and were so picky about complete sentences and all that other shite... when's the last time you saw one in the electronic medium?

Ah. I'm rambling. Something I tend to do a lot of, unfortunately, but I suppose it's... sort of a way to organize my thoughts. And they need organizing. Heh. Incomplete sentence. Starting with 'and' or 'but' is a no-no. Good thing this is a journal of sorts, because all those rules don't apply. Creative writing has one rule only, but a lot of good suggestions. Someone I admire a great deal taught me that. It was even in school. How about that.

Unfortunately, rambling can also just be my way of stalling. Back to the subject at hand. Letters. I know I write them - oh, initially at least. They often tend to devolve into the barest acknowledgement, a quick few phrases, and a signing off that may or may not include any form of farewell. The only exceptions to this, I've found are friends. The close kind, the deep sort. I may not write often, but when I do, it's a letter. This is, of course, excluding the kind where I'm sending a picture or a file and I'm also talking with them directly in a real time chat. Letters don't come when you're handing them something to take a look at and comment on right then and there.

Letters are funny things. Sometimes they flow like snowmelt down a mountain stream, and sometimes they're as hard to compose as fishing that needle from the haystack. I've been trying to write a letter for over a month now. Every time I get about halfway through, something happens. I had started working on it at work. On lunches. Breaks. Then the shit came down there, and it was a struggle to keep my head on straight and calm, and I had no time or freedom to finish it. Things coalesced there, and when I quit, I thought I had printed out everything of mine to take away, so I deleted it all. I evidently hadn't printed that. Gone. I wrote one by hand, to be included in a package I was mailing. That one's been lost, whether among the paper chaos on my desk or on the journey, either way it doesn't matter. When I found this out, I started to write it again. Halfway through the latest version, my computer seized. You guessed it. Gone. Some letters don't want to be written, and some don't want to be read. I'm beginning to think this one is both. Either way though, someone deserves that letter. So I will keep trying despite minotaur's luck.

You'd think after all this I'd have the thing memorized, wouldn't you? Nope. It's different every time. It just seems like it should be that way, you know? A unique effort every time. It may not make sense, but it feels right. Maybe that's why things keep going wrong with the letter. Maybe the letter is wrong, and it won't make it until it's correctly written. *laughs ruefully* No, I don't believe that. Right or wrong, it will be what it will be, and different or not, it always says the same thing.

Well. You'll have to excuse me now. I've a letter to write.

Kaz

Did a little visible work today:
Added a poem to the regular poetry section.
Did away with all the flashing balls I used to use to show sections which had been updated and when, barring the one next to the Voice Hill link on the main page. All updates will be recorded here from now on. If it's been a while (i.e. four months or more) since you were here, look around, and be sure to scroll to the bottom. Some of my updates which aren't recorded here, this being new, are more than just organizational.
Added color version of pic already present in Minotaur Pics section.
Did a little rearranging of links and polishing of presentation on various existing pages.

Things going on site-wise: It's mostly behind the scenes right now, with erratic updates and seemingly unconnected changes. I really must finish the Not So Frequently Asked Questions page. Someone kick me to get that done. I hate leaving 'Under Construction' notes on things, which is why I generally don't do it, working on it until it's done and then letting it out on the public. But that's going to take a while. Bleh. Trying to get the hang of this thumbnails thing in the Pics section. What doesn't help is my scanner crapped out, and my ancient, P.O.S. computer won't accept any other scanner I've bought/borrowed/begged for. I have to get all my stuff scanned at a print shop. Which costs money. Which I used to have.

Things going on moneywise: I'm now unemployed. For a couple weeks. The 14th of January saw me snap and quit my job of two years at the Humane Society of Santa Clara, a job I loved, but with people I grew to... extremely dislike. More on that in another rant. I'm still too angry. Those of you waiting on pictures... I'm sorry. You will get them. I just need to pay my bills first.

Things that are good: I attended my first convention of any sort - Further Confusion 2003. I enjoyed myself immensely after I tossed in the towel, and decided to draw a bit in the Creator's lounge. Thanks to Furlow and Kitler for making me feel welcome, making me laugh, and putting up with a rather lost minotaur. Thanks to BushyCat for just including me in the conversation, and thanks to those who asked me to draw in their sketchbooks. I was honored. For all those whom I just snagged a sketchbook and drew in... uh... surprise? Thanks especially go to Kishma, Tanamin (I love the picture!!), and Ed Kline, who got me there, put me at ease, and let me mooch off their company. (Waves to Ben) I'd probably have done more mooching, but I figured you already had a much cuter puppy following you around all over. Nevertheless, all of you made my first Con experience a great one. Thank you. It's a much better thing feeling you've got friends there. Aquaintences count!