Thursday, April 26, 2012

Fashion trends I don't understand

I ride the bus in Denver a fair amount, so I see a wide range of people coming and going from work, home, shopping, or wherever people go during the day.  I want to make clear that I am not a fashionable women; most days, I walk out the door wearing whatever whatever my hand first lands on in the hamper of clothes that I should have put away the night before.  Friends and family have taken great care to assure that I buy a wardrobe that matches in many combinations (in any respect) due to this unfortunate habit.

However, lately, I have noticed something that I am hoping someone can explain to me.  I see a lot of young men (late teens to twenties) wearing business tops and casual bottoms.  I have seen it on a handful of individuals on different days.  It's like a clothing mullet...suit coat and tie above the waist, worn jeans or sweat pants on the bottom.  Hair done up like a typical day out (i.e., not too formal, but definitely more done than "I just rolled out of bed").  What's up with this?  Was this in a movie recently, or demonstrated by a celebrity?  Are these people news anchors, where the only part of them you see is from the waist up (didn't recognize any of them as such)?  What kind of profession dresses this way?

Al


Friday, April 20, 2012

With regard to titles

Not in general; just mine.

As I attempt to edit out my next novel by June, my perpetually procrastinatory brain likes to throw every possible distraction.  Frieditors will already know that I have changed around the title of the Redemption project a few times. I've had a few titles related to the island, the name of the island, the translated name of the island, then Redemption, then (for a few days) it was Beyond Redemption, and now I am thinking I may change it again.

I wear out titles like socks.  They start feeling old to me, so I change them.  I didn't even title the Waldgrave books (<--that is what I had been calling it since it was written, circa I'm-not-even-sure-when-it-was-so-long-ago) until then were within a month of publishing.

Does anyone else feel the need to freshen up titles?  How do you pick them?  How do you know when a title is right?

Al

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Draft of Redemption Paperback Cover Art

Needed an art project tonight, so I played with making a cover for the paperback of Redemption.  Here it is so far:


I don't know the exact measurements of the binding yet, so that part might grow or shrink depending on editing.

Al

*UPDATE*

Latest draft, April 16 (fiddled with the stars some to increase at the top of the page and decrease on the horizon, increased brightness of sky colors):


Saturday, April 7, 2012

Feline Saboteur

Well, my cat loves my laptop cooling pad as much as I do.  The first day I left it out, the one of my cats decided to pull it out from under the laptop and chew the heck out of it.  I probably should have known this would happen--the cat is a freak and chews things, especially cardboard, like a teething puppy.

The laptop pad is still functional--it has a few more aeration holes now.  The cat is fine too; he wasn't able to rip off or ingest any pieces.  The pad keeps the laptop so cool that the cats are no longer attracted to curling up next to the cooling fan, which has led me to wonder if this was a planned attack to regain a warm spot on the ottoman.

Al

Thursday, April 5, 2012

New Computer Gear

For a few years now, my Inspiron has had some trouble with overheating.  While playing any kind of game it would overheat and shut off.  I found I could fix this by propping up the backside of the machine with coasters and such, but was recently without at a friend's house, which prompted me to buy a cheap laptop cooling pad (about $6).

It is MARVELOUS.  The laptop still gets a little toasty, but not to the point of shutting off.

In other news, I am struggling to get Redemption finished.  I am trying to streamline the process by not allowing myself to add any new text to the story, but as I've detailed before, the scope of this one has changed to include more story lines than initially written.  It's a change for the better, in my humble opinion, but we'll see what the readers think!  

I wish it would either rain or snow here.  Colorado needs the precipitation, and somehow it always seems to bring on the writing bug.

Al