one with quite a few nons

a friend of a friend (well, they're really closer than that implies) asked if i could contribute a story for their Sorority's literary folio, Parole. unable to refuse - not least because, hell, i'll admit it, i was flattered - i did something i'd never done before; pulled an entire narrative thread from a story i'd been working on, and threw in some bits to make it into something that can stand alone.

it is, quite possibly, the closest thing i've ever done to something autobiographical; while all fiction-writing is, in a sense, the fashioning of myths out of one's internal landscape, the fact never quite occurs to you until you actually try to write something that is more 'honest' about yourself than you would care to admit.

if they do use the story (it's called The Black Parade, though i'm pretty sure it hasn't got anything to do with My Chemical Romance), and you're in any way interested in seeing what kind of metaphors (read: crap) i managed to construct out of the more sordid details of my life, i'm afraid you'll have to look up someone from the sorority, as i'm told the folio is only circulated among members.

if you drop me a line, i could probably ask them for you, but i can't make any guarantees.

besides, i'm not even sure they have, in fact, decided to publish it. like most everything i do, it may very well be an unpublishable piece of garbage.

(i have it on good authority that certain parts of it 'don't work', and, if i didn't have so many pretentions about the intentions of the story, i'd be inclined to agree. [yes, i know there's a horrible rhyme in there.])

hopefully, i'll be able to reintigrate that story with the other thread, which i'm currently trying to get on its own feet as well.

the other thread contains more SFF (or, at least, 'strange story') elements i decided to take out to better suit the needs of Parole, and concerns, among other things, cats.

*

i've been moving stuff out of Audrey(3.0) into the new laptop, a Lenovo T60 provided by the Company. though i'm only meant to use her for work, i've moved all my stories, nonstories and story/nonstory fragments, as well as quite a number of pics and music files, and will probably start doing all my writing and surfing through her as well.

i was a bit miffed to learn the Company's IT dept had locked the system to prevent me from making any sort of alteration, including anything from power management settings to installing 'essential' programs like VLC and, more importantly, Yahoo Messenger; so it doesn't look like i'll be getting as much battery time off Liv (Nova, the lenovo - i know, i know, i really should lay off the Harrison for a while) as i currently do from Audrey (a threeish year old Toshiba Satellite M something or other) - even with her significantly worn out and abused battery - may be limited to a regional dvd library (though Spore City being multiregion, i may not have that problem after all - but i doubt i'm that lucky) and, even if Mabel should finally get a line in their apartment, might not be able to maximize the interweb's golden promise of connectivity.

must remember to talk to the IT dept about that.

if i can find a reliable way to send her off, Audrey may soon be on her way home to Mabel, and this may be the last time i post anything on the blog through her.

so - anyone planning on dropping by Spore City (or coming home from Spore City) any time soon?

*

i haven't quite been the skinny *black-clad* dink at work lately; as a result, mornings have become just a little more complicated for me. still...'wrinkle-free' shirts - i suppose it beats ironing.

is it completely wrong for me to be excited about getting a Tom Waitsish linen suit? now if only i'd taken my top hat and guitar with me and knew where i'd put that harmonica...

*

and finally...caught the lovely Lost in Translation on a local Spore City channel tonight; it's the third time i've seen it, i believe.

the last time i saw it was with Mabel.

perfect.