my heart is a glorious machine;

Foremost on the list of Things Which Would Be Nice About Now is: a fire. Possibly in the middle of my bedroom floor, so long as it is safely contained and not likely to burn anything it isn't supposed to (thereby rendering us unable to get our deposit back), and, primarily, warm and cosy. I could roast marshmallows. Or tasty sausages. Or, more importantly, my hands, which keep having to be reminded that, yes, they do have nerves in them. (I got a pair of fingerless gloves WITH FINGERS yesterday however; we will see where this takes us. Why do they still call them fingerless when they've got half-fingers? Or do those not count as fingers? Anyway, they let less air in and are quite rocking.) 

I've been having difficulty motivating myself to post, not because there is Some Great Dire Thing or because I have a ridiculously complicated thing to write out, but... because I have been. Well, I've had difficulty motivating myself to do much of anything lately (moreso than usual, I mean, which is to say BAD). Ugh. I seem to be rather more depressed than I am actually noticing.

So, Rabbit Hole Day! That was fun; I'm glad you all liked it; it was fun to write. I was feeling a bit sad, because I had jumped on the bandwagon really late at night, so I thought that nobody I knew would be able to do it, but three of you did! and it was marvellous! 

Here is sartorias' entry, from which I learned of this holiday (and gorblimey, is it gorgeous). And here are other people's entries that she gathered. (She is, by the way, the fantastic author Sherwood Smith, and her blog is a delicious repository of stimulating discussion and thought.) And, on my own f-list: lady_moriel's elevator takes her to unexpected places; aohdwyn learns a new way to make cupcakes; and cails runs into a mysterious stranger. I think this is the best holiday ever, and I should absolutely do it again next year, even if everyone will know by then. (It's a really fascinating exercise, too, especially trying to make it believeable in the beginning, drawing on elements of your actual life and seeing how you can develop them into something fantastical or surreal. I loved that I already had this practically mythological Mysterious Boy, too. It was great. Also, I have learned decided, he is almost certainly Tam Lin, but Janet is not, alas, me; Janet is the pretty red-headed girl at the bakery he was so often conversing with.) 

Stuff Which Has Happened: acquired warm fingerless gloves, had a grand time with Jonathan and then Jonathan + gang having stimulating discussions, making peppermint patties (messy beyond all reason, but delicious), and watching The Dark Knight, which... I somehow forgot how excellent a film it is. I really, really love Christopher Nolan's directing (someday I ought to see Memento, too), although it's difficult for his films to be personal favourites because they're sort of -- distant? I don't love Nolan the filmmaker in nearly the same way that I love Joe Wright and Mira Nair. It's difficult to quantify, because they do get very intimate -- I like that Dark Knight gets involved enough in characters and motivations that it doesn't lose itself in a sea of Epicness, and The Prestige (magic! science! Victoriana! NON-LINEAR TIME!) is full of the small human moments that I love, but they're still -- cold? I love them, but at the same time we both hold each other at arm's length. Hmm. But blimey, I think my favourite thing of all of my favourite things about his films is the way they're cut together. He juxtaposes scenes and cuts away from scenes in ways that are gorgeous and right and sometimes very unsettling -- often he cuts away in the middle of some kind of explosive action, so that you find yourself holding your breath.

Have not been writing much. Should look to this, yes. I am trying to at least get one complete and reasonably organised chapter of the Evangeline story written -- and am also attempting to apply Occam's razor to plot theories (in its most simplified and condensed form: the simplest solution is probably the answer), which may even get me somewhere (! -- ?). Perhaps perhaps. Only there seems to be no simplest answer to 'why are vampires suddenly specifically a threat?', does there? Why do all of my favourite storygerms come with such convoluted plots? My muse ought to know that I am very bad at this.

And! Vienna Teng has got a music video at last, for 'Gravity', and it is lovely and fascinating and good heavens what a completely marvellous dress she has got. My favourite thing, though, is the joy in her face when she sings. Oh Vienna.