Weekend update

[mollyringle]

Today's list will be in Roman numerals.

I. I spent hours figuring out how to make animated GIFs, and all I got was this lousy icon. I'm impressed at how much time you kids must put into your icon-making, if my attempts are any indication. All the same, some lazy day this skill will probably lead to some retrospective LOTR fandom icons that the world totally doesn't need.

II. Beautiful weather here this weekend. Bees buzzed in the blooming tree featured last entry. We opened doors and windows to the fresh air. I put clippings and seeds into little pots, and planted daffodils hither and yon. (And some heather, hither, too.) I'm pretty sure the two trees behind the shed are lilacs, which would be super, as lilacs are not only classy and lovely, but they prefer to be left alone. I like that in plants.

III. New sample of perfume that I'm loving: First, by Van Cleef & Arpels. Costs approx. $2.5 million per oz., unfortunately. This, combined with the way it evaporates to almost nothing on my skin within 2 hours, suggests it cannot become a habit of mine. But I'll play with the sample bottle while it lasts. In the way Chanel No. 5 is a Marilyn Monroe type of scent, First is a Grace Kelly type of scent. Elegance for the English country house rather than the swanky hotels of NYC. (Don't get me wrong; I love Chanel too.)

IV. Need a laugh? Watch this guy: http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/lyle_24/myhero.swf
It's clean, don't worry. But it's very silly, and makes use of your speakers, so keep that in mind if watching from work, or the reading room of the library.

V. According to the definitions at AgentQuery.com, I most likely do not write romance novels and never have. Thank God. I have written chick lit, no question; and women's fiction; and some subgenres of horror, by their categories (since that's where they put "supernatural folklore"); and love is always a huge deal in my stories. But my lifelong disinclination to read romance novels does suggest that I have never really written a proper one; for a love story, as we all know, is not necessarily a "romance". Young adult is my latest genre, in any case; and that ain't on their list. Heard recently that the YA category was invented as a place to stash sci-fi and fantasy, since no one was sure whether it was for adults or kids or what exactly, in the early decades. Interesting.

Comments

[ainu-laire.livejournal.com]

I love your icon.

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Well, thank you. :)

[bluesound.livejournal.com]

I don't want to come across as smug, but I can knock up animated gifs in 5-10 mins using Photoshop's ImageReady program.

I'm clearly so l33t!!!!111!!!!ELEVENTY!!!!!!BONUSBALL!111!!1!!

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Well, now that I've learned, it won't take me hours to make one. :P However, my Photoshop at home is an old version, and doesn't have ImageReady. I checked that first. Instead I have to cobble together this sequence of designing frames in Photoshop, converting them to GIFs with Graphic Converter (because my Photoshop also refuses to save things as GIFs), then assembling the animation in some freeware thing. Ugh.

My work version of Photoshop does have ImageReady, however. Good to know for future reference...

[bluesound.livejournal.com]

the interspaz is your friend... it contains lots of fun pieces of software (all legal of course *ahem*). And as someone who has the hell of software license auditing to do, this is bad, but "extended trials" are ok ;)

imageready doesn't even need you to convert piccies to gifs as you can save the animation as one.

[dirae.livejournal.com]

Have you thought of planting rosemary? I hear that the Seattle area has the temperate climate that allows rosemary to be a year-round herb and that it becomes more robust with each passing winter. Oh and if you do indeed have lilacs, the mix of scents is just grand... oh, add a dose of Mock Orange to that mix, golly!

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Yes indeed--rosemary grows in big heaps and mounds here. (In Davis it was even livelier. Tended to work itself into 6-foot-high highway-median type of shrubs.) We had some at the rental house (in Seattle), and it bloomed nearly all year. Been meaning to get some for the new place. I have a soft spot for blue or purple flowers, and of course anything that smells good. Hadn't thought of mixing the scent with lilac--yum! Have now liberated a clipping of rosemary from the roof deck here at work, since they have so much of it... :)

[bbwoof.livejournal.com]

I thought Disco was dead! It would appear to be rising from the grave like a Romanian revenant, ready to take over some unsuspecting high school. Not in Kentucky (http://www.lex18.com/global/story.asp?s=2989614), of course...

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

The '70s are coming back, man. No question about it. Just look at those flared trousers!

As to the Kentucky article...oy. Funny, but sad.

YA Fiction

[terimaru.livejournal.com]

YA Fiction is my newest genre craze too. Can you recommend a good LJ community?

I envy you the huge rosemary plants. I love to grill chicken with Rosemary sprinkled on it. It's not perenial here unless we have a really mild winter. We have to start all over each year with new plants.

Re: YA Fiction

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Hmm, hadn't thought to look for a community, but this morning I sniffed around and ended up joining yaandmgwriters. We shall see how that goes.

The rosemary might live if you grew it in a container and brought it inside for the winter. Haven't tried it as a houseplant myself, but other herbs seem to do well like that. The scent and flavor is so strong and unique, it really is a great plant. And you've got to love the flowers!