So, I haven't played World of Warcraft since before I had the little one.  Who can when you have a newborn?

I got an email today stating that my account has been banned and closed due to illegal activity and exploitation.

Uhh, haven't played in 1.5 years, guys.  Kind of freaks me out that someone else might be using my account.

Interesting indeed.

I was surfing through our cable On Demand music videos and I came upon some Cyndi Lauper, "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun."  I played it for E and she was hopping around to it.  It brought back a rather disturbing memory.

Remember when Cyndi Lauper went through that whole thing with the WWF?  There was this huge showdown between Captain Lou Alabano and some other dude, and they hyped it up on MTV (back in the day when they actually had music videos on MTV.) 

Well, the night of the big showdown came and I was babysitting my younger brother (who was then an infant at age 6 months or so.)  I can't tell you how excited I was for this huge event.  I was so f*in' sold on it.  And that was the night that my little brother wouldn't stop crying.  He cried and cried and cried.  And started about 30 seconds after the televised showdown began and stopped the minute it was over.  I was so pissed.  I just sat there in the chair and tried to rock him, feed him, tried to watch and listen the glorious 80's cheese that was unfolding before my eyes.

I swore I'd never forgive him for that.  God, how embarrassing.

I will say, that his moment of embarrassment came some years later when we went to Hawaii on vacation with the family.  He was about 7 or 8 and we were scheduled to go to this huge luau deal.  He threw the biggest fit because a David Copperfield special was coming on and he wanted to watch it.  Surrounded by the glory of Hawaii, and he wanted to stay in the hotel room and watch David Friggin' Copperfield.  Hahaha.

Anyway, there's my confession.  Enjoy.

It's hard to do vampires and do something new.  It's like going to the same horror movie disguised in another cloak: Freddy, Jason, you name it . . . they all start to look the same after a while.

But, there is some good Vampire material out there: non-emo Vampires that weren't always in the mainstream.

When I was in junior high and high school, punk was starting to really emerge amongst my peers.  It also gave birth to "Death rock" and the "new wave" era.  We didn't have "emo" or "goth" back then.  You didn't have some of these poser stores like Hot Topic.  If you wanted something cool, you had to order it from the Brit-mags and catalogs, or you had to know how to sew.  We also frequented the second hand stores, the army surplus stores.  You were always looking for something you could alter, could reinvent, could tear up and restitch. 

But, I'm getting off track.  This is about vampires.

Before Anne Rice really got a boost, there was Whitley Streiber and his book, The Hunger.  This was made into a movie starring Susan Sarandon, David Bowie and Catherine DeNeuve.  The movie became so popular and coveted that you couldn't rent it from the video store without putting down a $50 deposit.  People were stealing the copies to keep. 

This is how the evolution of the vampire came about within these subcultures.  It started with Whitley.  I'm wholly convinced of this, though some may argue that Anne Rice deserves the title of "Vampire Sire."  I disagree.  Interview with a Vampire (though written before Streiber's book,) didn't really pick up momentum until some years later. 

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed Anne Rice's Vampire stories (well, most of them.)  I had a difficult time finding a character to connect with as most of her female characters were unreachable in one way or another: super-bitchy, crazy, childlike. 

We had a string of vampire movies: some actually quite good.  I'll always be a fan of The Lost Boys.  And Near Dark is one of the finest vamp-flicks out there.  There's also Brahm Stoker's Dracula which blew my socks off, despite Winona Ryder.  Then there was the Vampire: The Masquerade, an rpg created by two brothers in the basement of their parents' home.  Their game was an RPG whirlwind and their company became the second largest gaming conglomerate behind Dungeons and Dragons.

I'm not sure the point of my post, other than to say, "it's all pretty much been done before."  The angst, the love, the longing, the lure of immortality.   I think our recent fascination began with Whitley's story, a rather quiet tale about a vampire named Miriam who is desperate to find love that will last with her through the ages.

Whitley's vampires are a race unto themselves--born as they are.  They were hunted over the ages until few remained.  Vampires procreating was dangerous.  It often took the life of the mother and child.  The race began to die, slowly, over time.  And here is Miriam, feeding her blood to humans in hopes of finding a lover that will stick.  You see, they stay with her for a while, young and supple, but after a few hundred years they start to deteriorate at an alarming rate.  They age before our eyes, yet they never die.  Horrific.

In the movie, Susan Sarandon plays a genetic doctor who thinks she has found a cure for mortality.  Naturally Miriam is interested.  Perhaps this woman holds the secret to Miriam's problem. 

The book reads very quickly. I finished it in a few hours and it was one of the first books in which I can remember that happening.  There is also a sequel, The Last Vampire, about the utter genocide of Miriam's species.  Powerful stuff, and out there for quite a long time.

Fascinating to trace these cultural shifts.  Give it a shot.  Rent the movie, pick up the book (though it may be difficult to find nowadays.)  Enjoy. 

Today, I give my graduate presentation of an author.  I chose Ray Bradbury.  When I was younger, I remember reading a story by Ray and thinking, "this is what I want to do for a living."  He was my catalyst into writing long ago.  Here are some interesting facts about him.

• His first paid writing “job” was given to him by actor George Burns -- for contributing a joke to the Burns & Allen Show (age 11.)
• By 1931 (age 12) he began writing his own stories on butcher paper.
• Bradbury's formal education ended with his high school graduation in 1938. However, he continued to educate himself by reading books at the library.
• He sold his first short story at age 18, to Amazing magazine.
• He sold newspapers on Los Angeles street corners from 1938 to 1942 in order to support himself.
• By 1943 he had given up his job selling newspapers and began writing full-time, contributing numerous short stories to periodicals.
• For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Ray Bradbury was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
• An asteroid is named in his honor, "9766 Bradbury," along with a crater on the moon called "Dandelion Crater" (named after his novel, Dandelion Wine).

HIS catalyst.  Mr. Electrico . . . (In Bradbury's words)

If you're unfamiliar with Bradbury and want to read something of his, check this out.  It's one of my favorite short stories.  If you love him like I do and just want to get lost in fiction, read it.

The Fog Horn

Have a great week-end, all.

I am doing a presentation for class about sci-fi and speculative fiction and why there is such a stigma attached to it as a genre.  I conducted an online survey.  I thought I would share my findings......

Why people don’t take science-fiction seriously?  Why is the genre regarded as inferior to reality-based literature?  I asked.  People answered:
(Typed exactly as received)

This is simple really:

1) Nerds love science fiction;
2) Nerds are competitive about intelligence and tend to be extremely insecure about it;
3) Science fiction is generally poorly written and silly and not taken seriously as literature;

Therefore: A freelance writer who wants to be published in Wired strikes gold if he re-makes the world so that the nerds are right and the literature folks are wrong (making them look empirically wrong, nerd-style) about something (aesthetics) that the nerds are extremely insecure about.

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I stopped reading Sci-Fi when I grew up and finally got a job, at 34. Generally, it’s bad at predicting the future, so it’s rubbish.

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Science fiction is for speed readers. That way, you can ignore the pedestrian or worse writing and just focus on the ideas. Too often it is an endurance contest between wanting to see how it comes out and not wanting to endure bad prose one minute longer.

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I hate fans seeing only cliches instead of the bad writing that under rides it.
I hate the search of originality without sense or purpose.
I hate fans claiming originality where none actually exists.
I hate info dumps.
I hate "catch up" writing, especially eight or so novels into a series.
I like novels that assume their readers are smart.
I like writers that use strong themes.
I like novels that put characters before plot.
I like novels that throw the reader into a world without aforementioned info dumps.
I like action scenes that are about the characters, not just Hero vs 5 goblins for the sake of action.

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A sci-fi story is harder to relate to. As interesting as it may be to read about the war for water on another planet, no one is ever going to literally experience that.

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There's some sort of "geek stigma" attached to all things sci fi/fantasy, including books like Lord of the Rings/Dune, TV shows like Star Trek, and even Mass Multiplayer Online games. There used to be the same stigma for online dating, but not so much any more.  Any teenage girl could answer your question and tell you how much of a loser you are for reading Dune or watching Star Trek - geek girls excluded of course.

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It's painful for me to read this crap. It's also painful that this stuff is labeled 'science fiction'. Better possible names for the genre: stunted imaginations, unscientific-barely-educated-conjecture, laser-licious, nerd alert, books that will make fools of their authors about 30 minutes after they're published.  God I hate science fiction.

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I HATE SCIENCE FICTION!!! THAT KIND OF FUCKING WRITING SHOULD BURN IN HELL FOR ALL ETERNITY!

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I try to keep an open mind, I really do, but the first sentence that goes a little something like "and then we ate some freeze-dried meatloaf," or "you walk through this portal to get to the next planet," and my mind just slams firmly shut in a stunning display of superiority and snobbery. Science-fiction writers appear to be even less able to imagine the future than the average cat. In the eighteenth century, science fiction consisted of: we travel to places quite quickly with our new hover-horses, and we wear hoop skirts with many pockets in them, convenient for storing our super-cool gadgets, like the combination garlic presscandle stick that comes in handy ever so often and we have no idea how people used to live without them, and a loaf of bread costs a whole 90 cents these days!

---

Fuck that.  I watch Grey’s Anatomy.  Sci-fi is for idoits.

As of today, down 15 pounds. 

I've been working my food program for the last two weeks (Weight Watchers.)  I have been making myself eat tons of fruit and veggies.  I make a veggie soup that is less than a point a cup, though I do count it as a point each time I eat it.  Basic:

8 cubes chicken bouillon
8 cups water
1 cup cut up carrots
1 cup cut celery
1/2 cup onions
1/2 bag of frozen green beans

That's it.  Filling and warm for the cold days.  And I get a serving of veggies with each bowl.

I made it to the gym at school and I have to say that I feel like a friggin' rock star.  It's huge.  there are over 150 machines: eliptical, stationary bikes, treadmills, rowing machines, etc.  A swimming pool.  There are over 100 weight machines (some are duplicate because they are popular.)  They have a 20-machine circuit as well.

I was so sore the next day.  They have this ab machine that just about killed me, especially considering that my core/torso strength has been next to nothing since the C-section 1.5 years ago.

I'm definitely rockin' it and feel awesome.  Another 25 lb before January.  I think I can do it. 

Later all!

Cannot wait!

Unofficial and a bit grainy, but kickass.  I'm absolutely a Trek fan, and I'm looking forward to the prequel (directly by JJ Abrams.)

America's Next Top Model is almost to the end. 

I'm rooting for Samantha, but I don't think she'll win. 

Analeigh is too mousy in panel . . . but I like her.

  McKey will probably win. 

They're all lovely girls in truth.  In the past, there's always been one or two in the final 3 who have either not been up to par or they were kind of bitchy.  I'd be happy with any of these ladies winning!  Though I'm rooting for the underdog, Sam.

Well, it's been a week since I started eating better.  Though I've had no exercise this week (except for yardwork and walking,) I've lost 11 lb.  I know most of that is water weight and that's fine, but it's inspiring.  I've drastically cut back my calories and have been eating lost of fruit/veggies.  Almost no meat.  Some staches/pastas, etc. 

Tomorrow, I go to the health center at the school to do my first weight-lifting sessions.  I'll also get 2 free dietician/personal training sessions just for being a student.  How awesome is that?  My ultimate goal is to lose another 30 pounds by the end of the year.  I think I can do it.  The holidays aren't really phasing me as we are kind of isolated up here in Fort Collins, so the only times I'll have to worry is when we go home for Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

Whew.  I did it.  I feel like I'm pretty much on track again and ready to kick some butt. 

Lulu