And the polls are open for this week's Brigit's Flame, with the topic being "Happiness is...". My contribution is here, but of course read and vote as your heart wills :-) It's down to 49 entries, with the cut taking the field to 30 by Monday.

As always, whether or not you wish to vote, feedback is always appreciated.

It took me a few days to finish polishing my query letter. (That's the letter you use to pitch your book in a single page of text to entice literary agents.) Monday, I finished my query letter, but I still felt unhappy with it. I spent the rest of the afternoon on AgentQuery whittling down a list of 109 agents who represent science fiction down to 28 who looked the most likely to appreciate my manuscript.

Tuesday, I was experiencing intense eye pain in my left eye that had started the night before. Gaw, it felt awful! >_o I'm going to add "eye pain" to burns and sore throats on my list of "Things that hurt like a b*tch no matter what you do." The only time the pain stopped was when my eyes were shut. I thought I'd scratched or cut my eye or that there was debris under my lid that I couldn't see. I went to the doctor, but she couldn't find anything wrong. She told me to wait and see. It hurt less and less each day and now it's better by now. o_O Even so, I wasted Tuesday with my eyes shut.

Wednesday, I found out what I'd been doing wrong with my query letter. Up until that point, I'd been putting all my trust in a single tutorial on AgentQuery. It had some great advice, but I put way too much stock in that single source. (This is the perfect example of why I've read so damn many books about good writing and how to get published. When you've read a wide range, it's easy to see what are essentials and what might be a single editor/author's opinion.) While researching lit agencies I might submit to, I came across The Knight Agency. I was researching their submission guidelines, and found their page on writing solid query letters, which included links to other tutorials. VERY. HELPFUL! I figured out what I'd been doing wrong, and revised my query letter from scratch. My first draft was about 450 words and nearly all plot summary (bad move!); my new letter was a tidy 350 words and I finally liked it. Here was a letter that would hook agents' interests! I went over it with Alan and tightened up the wording even more.

( Read more... )

And now, for something completely different -

Does anyone know where i can get copies of the JLPT level 3 test off the internet? i live in a place where the nearest bookshop that sells the practice test is on the other side of the mountain lol!

Thanks for this

よろしくお願いします！

I said goodbye
do not lament
one was there
a shared moment

I saw it come
knew it was soon
the moment passed
Where were you?

Into the dark
pass through to light
I went alone
detached in flight

And so it passed
and so have I
but leave it now
Just let it lie

Put down your guilt
cast it aside
it helps you not
let it abide

For those who missed it
it can't come back
the moment 's gone
Fade to black

I forgave you then
I forgive you now
Forgive yourself
If you know how

Shed no tears
for I have learned
there's more to that
than knowledge earned

Fear not the dark
It's all the same
the cosmic wheel
what's in a name

I've now gone on
and so will you
we'll meet again
start fresh, anew

Our moment's gone
but we'll come back
We'll start afresh
Fade to black

For those who missed it
it can't come back
the moment's gone
Fade to black



***This is my entry for a Mini-Contest in brigits_flame, a critical writing community with weekly topics. This contest is for song lyrics with the winner to be set to music, professionally produced, and posted on Youtube. I hope you enjoyed it.***

Happiness is
the sunshine on my children's hair
glinting gold
as they scamper off
across the lawn
laughing.

The sound of their laughter
underscores my dichotomy
light against the dark
the twin poles that are ever
straining my life
between them.

Happiness is my lover's hand
warm against my skin
strong beneath my frailty
solid and real
in a world often swirled
in mists of uncertainty.

It is a note of music
hanging perfectly in the air
like a hummingbird
suspended.

It is the smell of rich,
simmering goodness
spicy and sweet
promising both sustenance
and comfort.

It is the panoply of threads and fabrics
utterly fascinating
a myriad of colors
tempting with the promise
of creation
awaiting merely
my hands.

It is the hard-won peace
suffusing our house
unkempt though it may be
but nonetheless
an oasis, sustaining,
as much as any
found in the desert.

Shadows exist here
the light contrasts against them
a beacon that draws us onward.
The gloom notwithstanding,
like seedlings
we turn.

An evening's warmth
as the sun sets
the day's energy spent and yet
still so promising.
Looking across the lawn
the setting beams filter through the trees
and catch the golden glints
of my children's hair.


***This is my entry for July, Week 3 in brigits_flame, a critical writing community with weekly topics. This week's prompt was "Happiness is...". I hope you enjoyed it.***

Iljimae 11-12! Yong/Iljimae begins to woe Eun Chae. She is smitten with BatmanIljimae and is annoyed with Yong. Although he likes her, he uses her for information and she doesn't seem to mind. Shi-hoo gets suspicious and almost catches Iljimae a couple times. This prompts Yong to train with super-monk. The training sessions were great, and Yong's cute and silly gestures are love! Apparently summer, fall and winter pass very, very quickly in ancient Korea. Everything seems to happen during the spring when the trees blossom so prettily.

Hey, the Korean Hanazawa Rui has been cast. The other 3 F4 guys haven't been, and they haven't decided on the Korean names yet, but Kim Hyun Joong pretty much looks the part.

So, here's what I submitted last Sunday, hoping it made it into vol. 2, and as you can tell, I'm so excited I had to share it here. XD

Sorry for the cliche pose and scene. I'll try to come up with something better next time. ^^;

Fake cut over to my LJ for pic

Note to self: Taking Mr Bear grocery shopping after playgroup is NOT a good idea UNLESS he has a snack on the way to the store. OTHERWISE, stand down on the mission unless you are prepared for lots of "I want" with a side of whining.

He's better now that he has had food, but my patience is shot ATM. :-P

How much am I LOVING DR HORRIBLE?????? Man!!!!!!!!!

If you have not seen it yet, GO! RUN! FLY! :-) Acts I and II are out, Act III is Saturday.

Man, I need a good all-purpose Joss icon.

P.S. Damn you, LJ, for eating this post! But Dr Horrible I will NOT BE DENIED!! Go forth and view!

Dr Horrible awaits!

Tomorrow is my last day of classes at my home school, Deerfold JHS. My last day at New Moon JHS was on Monday, and my last day at Nine Twigs Elementary was on Tuesday. Wednesday night I had the goodbye party hosted by the board of education, tomorrow night I have the goodbye party for Deerfold, and I've had places to go, people to see, every night for the past week.

I think I will sleep in on Saturday and then do a nice long post with pictures in the afternoon.

In place of a real post, I'm putting up the goodbye speech I'll be giving tomorrow morning, first in English and then in Japanese (with commentary/explanation in parentheses).

Good morning, everyone. Today is my last day as a teacher at Deerfold Junior High School. I came to Japan for the first time in August of last year. I couldn't say much more than, "Ohayo Gozaimasu" (good morning), "Arigato Gozaimasu" (thank you) and "yoroshiku onegai shimasu" (an all purpose, greases the social gears sort of word). It was very difficult, but everyone has been so kind and patient with me. Thank you for working hard to understand my bad Japanese. I've tried my best. Thanks to all of you, I've experienced many things during my year at Deerfold Junior High School:

• Japanese Junior High School Student life


• Sports Day


• the Culture Festival


• Brass Band and Fine Arts Club


• the e-pal exchange with Boston Latin School


• Graduation Ceremony


• New Students School Entrance Ceremony


• and many fun English classes

You were my best English students, and Deerfold was my favorite school. I will miss you all very much.

みなさん、おはようございます。　今日は＿＿中学校での私の先生としての最後の日です。　私がはじめて日本にやって来たのは去年の八月のことでした。　あの頃私は　「おはようございます」、「ありがとうございます」、「よろしくお願いします」　以外のことは言えませんでした。とても難しいことでしたがみなさんはとてもやさしくそして私のいうことに熱心に耳を傾けてくれました。　私の下手な日本語をりかいしょうとしてくれてとてもありがとう。　私もベストをつくしました。　私は＿＿中学校ですごした一年間の間に　みなさんのおかげでたくさんのことを経験することができました。
．．．
みなさんはとても英語が上手なすばらしい生徒達でした。　＿＿は私にとってお気に入りの学校でした．ここをさることがとてもさみしい。　

(not in English) 本当にありがとうございました。　おせわになりました。

The Japanese translation is courtesy of my friend Shizuka. I tried to make the English as Japanese as I could before we set to work translating it. Yes, the section before the experiences was the same for each of my schools, but everything to the end was different for each school. And it's true, Deerfold was my favorite school, and I'm hoping by writing this here tonight, I won't start crying tomorrow morning when I give at the summer term closing assembly. I really dislike crying in public.

Soul Eater 15! Though most of this episode was pointless (but somewhat cute), it leads to a potentially interesting standoff between Kid and Chrona. C'mon action!

So spoiled myself and sped-watched Iljimae through episode 17. I'm going to have to add the bad guys to my 'characters that should not die' list, since that list is a bad place to be on. *weep weep* more later.

What am I doing, posting at this hour? Well, that's a good question. Mostly it's because I went to bed, thinking "Crap! I haven't written anything for this week's brigits_flame entry!" and so that I had better start typing something in the morning, Then a phrase popped into my head and I decided to get up and jot it down. So now I have a little something (a bit of froth, a mere bagatelle) and it is "resting". I can pull it out tomorrow and see if it's what I think it is (i.e., something good enough to submit by Friday at noon!)

The briefest update: Mr Bear had his allergy tests, and sadly is still allergic to tree nuts and peanuts. More on all that later, but that was the upshot. He did great though :-)

And now, I must get my heiny to bed. I am actually considering going for my walk early in the morning, like before Blogula leaves for work. Of course, that was the plan when I was going to bed at 11:30. Now that it is 1 a.m., we'll just have to see.

It doesn't get too hot up here in WA, even in the summer. (The weather was one of our main reasons for moving here. We don't mind the constant rain and overcast skies ♥) Even so, the past couple weeks brought a few days where we're feeling pretty toasty.

On those hottest days, the guinea pigs look fatigued and overheated in their cage, so Alan and I worked out an inexpensive solution to keep them cool. We got some re-freezable ice packs that can be used over and over. Just wrap one in a dish towel, set it in the cage and voila! Instant piggy A/C. When they're really hot, they can stretch their bellies out on top of the ice to cool off. When it starts to get too cold, they'll sleep near the ice so they can still feel the coolness without getting chilled. I really recommend it to anyone who owns small critters.

We tried setting one out for Samus, but she didn't stick around long enough to figure out what it was. But the ice pack solution was so simple, Alan and I started using it for ourselves! XD When we're sitting on the couch just playing video games or something, we'll take one of the ice packs, wrap it up in a pillow case, and sit on it until we freeze our butts off, then trade it off to the other person. Seems silly, but it works.

Here was Poe and Chupa's reaction to their icy cooler...


Poe: [pokes his head out of his house] Hey! What's that?

( The pigs explore their icy options... )

I was thinking about my LJ habits when it comes to certain posts I read (or don't read) on my flist and it got me wondering what other people do in those same situations, so please vote in the poll below.

I figure for most of these questions, the answer would be "sometimes" or "it depends," but please vote for whichever one you usually do. You can explain your special circumstances or your "Well, it depends..." in more detail in comments.

Poll #1224757
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

When an LJ friend makes a voice post (audio entry with no text), do you usually listen to it?

When a friend's LJ entry includes a long copy/pasted IM conversation between them and another friend, do you usually read it?

When an LJ friend embeds a YouTube video in their post, do you usually watch it?

RE: Victory of Eagles. ( Vague spoilers )

15 Silver Diamond Icons ^_^

Previews:




~*~The Rest~*~

...Well, not yet, but perhaps later this fall or winter. After months of no luck job hunting, I've finally gotten a tentative offer for a position as an agriculture specialist with the federal government. I still have to pass the lengthy background check, though, which they estimate will take 4-5 months if all goes without a hitch. (If you get a call from Homeland Security asking about me...that's why.)

I mailed off the hefty documentation packet yesterday. It included bunches of forms detailing every aspect of my life in triplicate. Hopefully all will go smoothly. If I pass, I'll be sent to Maryland for a 10 week training course, and then I'll be assigned to San Francisco.

I made it out for a walk today. Yay! (I must award myself a gold star because I really did not want to do it! Damn inertia!)

Today is all about the allergy test. Mr Bear is already pretty unhappy about having to go. Plus he's been anti-histamine-free for over a week and I'm sure it's starting to tell on him. He did not sleep well last night. I just want to get this over with, get him some drugs, and give him relief. THANK GOD Blogula is going to be able to join me after all.

Mulling over the entry for this week. I hope there's some quiet time this afternoon so I can start jotting down a bunch of random thoughts I've been having. I don't know if they add up to anything yet, but it's a start.

My house is a mess. *sigh* I did, however, get a ton of ironing done yesterday. Also some laundry. And I stayed awake all afternoon! :-)

Now I am hot from my walk and must go take a shower. Thus ends this glimpse into my personal life *draws curtain*

Natsume Yuujinchou 2! I went ahead and read the available scanlations of the manga and despite the ho-hum artwork, each story is pretty touching. It deals with loneliness and making friends. The characters' personalities are great, too. Even when Nyanko keeps saying that he wants Natsume to die and pretends to eat him, he keeps saving him from harmful spirits. The manga and anime remind me of Mushishi's type of simple & elegant storytelling, but it is more optimistic and warm. In episode 2, a spirit wants his name back, but his name is stuck to another's name in the book. Natsume and them go search for the other spirit to release both of them since any damage to the book also damages the spirit.

And another reason to get a DS? Chii's Sweet Home