(no subject)

Wow, okay, posting all that was interesting.

The first half of Trace is up. I'm doing some final little tweaks, so you get chapters 1 - 12 today (which seems more than enough to satisfy) and 13 - 25 tomorrow. Lest you think I drastically expanded it from the nine chapters it was, such is not the case; I just figured out that a couple of tiny chapters here and there could prevent a whole lot of confusion. It's a nice step, becoming more obsessed with properly telling the story than I am with chapter-size symmetry.

(Joe Orton had some wise words on this, namely "The theatre is the Temple of Dionysus, and not Apollo. You do the Dionysus thing on your typewriter, and then you allow a little Apollo in, just a little to shape and guide it...but you can't allow Apollo in completely.")

Anyway, you can go to the index post with links to all posted chapters, or you can go straight to chapter one here and you'll get links to the rest. Or if you'd like to read over the old version, you can check out the Trace tag.

Some of you may possibly be baffled by my continuing talk of Trace, or be new to the journal and thus to the concept of Extribulum, a dog-Latin term I invented which means "Out from the machine". (The threshing machine but, well, it IS the internet after all.) Extribulum as a term is still in flux, but at its most basic refers to a document whose first life is digital -- an e-book without hard-published format, an online novel, et cetera. More specifically, it is a document which not only has a first-digital life but which undergoes a process of criticism and change in that life -- I post these books online, you tell me what you think, and I rework them accordingly.

What's going up today and tomorrow is the "second" draft, which has taken your feedback into account; the third draft, barring major upheaval, will be published as a free .PDF and a for-pay hard copy book via Lulu.com. Please feel free to comment on the story, offer your thoughts, and correct any typos you may see. Especially those of you unfamiliar with White Collar, the original fanfic version of this (Never Leave A Trace), and the first draft -- your thoughts are welcome.

Hope you guys like it. Because if you don't, I am so screwed...:D

(no subject)

It's Wednesday, and I did in fact stay up to watch mah show last night, which means it's time for Sam's Three Things About White Collar!

Spoilers for Episode 3.03: ( Deadline )

3a. Apparently wardrobe has decided to stop hating on Sara (that white suit, omg hot) and instead is channeling their rage into dreadful outfits for single-episode cast. My goodness that was some ugly clothing they put on the magazine editor.

(no subject)

Tonight I went to the Meatloaf Bakery.

Oh yes, you read that right: Meatloaf. Bakery.

I've been meaning to try it for a while but always assumed it was a bit difficult to get to. Turns out it's right on a bus route, just about central between work and home. Door to door service, almost. Anyway, I wanted to get a gift certificate for R for his birthday; he loves Meatloaf Bakery, and he's a big fan of "meat" as a gift. So for him, I braved the 151 bus, which I normally hate and fear. Apparently the trick to not ending up in backstreet hell on the 151 is to get off before it leaves the park.

Anyway, I picked up his gift and got a "meatloaf cupcake" for myself -- "bunless burger" meatloaf, topped with cheesy mashed potatoes. It is 100% delicious, really rich and flavourful, not too heavy. I thought it would be greasy, because when I heated it (they package them chilled) some grease bled out the bottom. It's not, though -- I mean, it is a little, but just enough to make it moist. For nine bucks, it's a pretty full meal, and way better than the nine dollar mac and cheese from the food truck. NOVELTY DINING: I'M ABOUT IT.

It's in a neat little area of Clark Street, lots of hipster cafes and shops, and best of all about a block south there is, drumroll please, a Five Guys Burgers.

I love Five Guys. They're not everyone's taste but they make exactly the kind of burger I like and their fries are awesome. And I've never lived within easy reach of one before, so they've always been a special treat. Now, I can get on a bus a block from work, and twenty minutes later be in a booth eating Five Guys fries.

I declare this more than an ADVENTUR. Tonight was, quite simply, A TRIUMPH.

(no subject)

Son of a bitch, Origami Calendar, way to SPRING A SINK FOLD on your unsuspecting owners.

Today's diagram, the Eight Pointed Star, has a surprise sink fold in step three which I would not have been able to manage if I hadn't been ranging the internet for difficult and bizarre origami to suppliment the calendar's steady diet. Sink folds are evil things, designed to torment the innocent.

But I have to admit they do make awfully pretty stars.

I was folding a second one of these today when BossBoss walked up to my desk and said, "I just gave my thirty days notice."

That one ended up a little crumpled.