stars still wonder

hugs

winkingstar — Thu, 30 Jan 2014 22:52:51 GMT

I really, really need hugs.

Also, links to happy things?

For instance: adorable baby polar bear sees snow for the first time! I love the little squeaks he makes! ♥

Also, I feel terrible that I am only ever around to whine anymore. I'm really hoping to do a quick podfic this weekend, though, and then I will have something to post that is not whining. I got a sweet new mic for Christmas, so I am determined to get back into recording!

*hugs*

This entry was originally posted at http://winkingstar.dreamwidth.org/291058.html.

winkingstar — Sun, 03 Nov 2013 03:41:45 GMT

help i ventured onto tumblr again this week and keep staying up way past my bedtime.... o_o

This entry was originally posted at http://winkingstar.dreamwidth.org/290705.html.

winkingstar — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 18:37:07 GMT

Happy Christmas to all of you who celebrate and a Happy Tuesday to everyone!

♥

(Got The Avengers finally, yessss! \o/ Also some other cool stuffs. :D )

This entry was originally posted at http://winkingstar.dreamwidth.org/289894.html.

Oh. Hello.

winkingstar — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 20:45:41 GMT

lavvyan kindly sent me some panda love (♥!), so I figured I should probably verify that I am, in fact, still alive over here.

Hello!

I feel like that expression nicely sums up the state of my life: slightly crazed, exhausted, but mostly okay.

So, um, yeah.

Oh, since I last posted at the end of May (*insert guilty conscience here*), I haven't told y'all that I successfully obtained my level-up to Librarian II in June. Which was ... rather anti-climactic for all the blood, sweat, and tears put into it. (So... rather like when I handed in my undergrad thesis.)

And in not-yet-happened exciting news, I am going to Germany in November! I've bought my (tragically expensive) tickets and everything! :D This will be my third trip to Deutschland, making it my most-travelled-to country. Which I never would have guessed when I first started travelling abroad in 2003, but I'm totally okay with it. ♥

This entry was originally posted at http://winkingstar.dreamwidth.org/289577.html.

squee time!

winkingstar — Sun, 27 May 2012 14:17:44 GMT

It's tea time! For this party, we'll just hang out and share whatever makes you squee lately.

The Rules:
* Good manners are a must. So naturally no harshing anyone's squee. (This goes without saying among Polite Society, of course, but one ought always to cover one's bases, as it were.)
* Any new topic should be posted as a new comment thread with a clearly labeled subject for ease of browsing through all the threads.
* "Squee" is here defined as anything that makes you happy. This can take whatever form you like: links, recs, pics, anecdotes, whatever!
* The more the merrier! If you want to point people in this direction, you are certainly welcome to.
* Most important: have fun & share the squee!

But first, some random questions:

View Poll: squee party

Squee Guide (I'll add links as new topic threads are added):
Tea
Food & such
Sherlock
Travels

Tea party this Sunday!

winkingstar — Sat, 26 May 2012 02:08:24 GMT

Tea party on Sunday! The plan is pretty much just to squee about things for a while. My life is sadly lacking in squee lately. I will probably open it around 10am US Eastern time (other times).

I hope you can stop by for a bit! :)

This entry was originally posted at http://winkingstar.dreamwidth.org/289041.html.

winkingstar — Sat, 19 May 2012 01:47:12 GMT

Okay, so I got a nasty head cold last week, which is why the tea party never materialized. (Seriously, my head was full of snot. It was gross. But on the bright side, it was just a cold and not any of the other weird plagues my coworkers had.)

I have a bunch of things to do this weekend, but NEXT weekend, we are HAVING a tea party! *determined* I made a lame graphic, so it's official. *g*

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend! *huggles* ♥

This entry was originally posted at http://winkingstar.dreamwidth.org/289019.html.

dashes in again

winkingstar — Mon, 07 May 2012 00:45:27 GMT

Hallo! So, clearly I still need to work on this posting regularly thing again, some more. :/ I dunno, 2012 has been kicking my butt. Or, well, I guess I've been having a hard time catching my breath since last autumn. Basically, I feel like I fail at life lately (where life = not work). Stresssss. I am trying to take better care of myself, but it is hard. /o\

Oh, but I did manage to snag a day in D.C. with the delightful taiteilija in March! :D It was so lovely to see her again (and odd to realize it'd been two and a half years!).

Also, May is a good month for a tea party! (Any month is a good month for a tea party, of course, but you get the idea.) The spring semester is over this week, so perhaps next weekend. Any thoughts on a theme?

In other news, I watched some SGA vids a couple weeks ago and I hadn't realized how much I missed their wee faces! So then I watched Echoes and it is still the best ever. ♥ Also, then I went through my 3-year-old wips folder and now I kind of want to finish stuff. Oh, to have more time in which to do things.

This entry was originally posted at http://winkingstar.dreamwidth.org/288600.html.

omg sherlock.

winkingstar — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 02:51:29 GMT

My heart!

(Yes, I am totally behind-the-times, but what else is new?)

Also caught up on Downton Abbey this week. (I decided TV was more important than doing homework for work. Which, you know, is what normal people think all the time.)

BBC is a drug. Short bouts of ecstasy and then loooong, agonizing bouts of withdrawal. Oh, the price one pays for television that is actually good.

This entry was originally posted at http://winkingstar.dreamwidth.org/288389.html.

winkingstar — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 02:49:00 GMT

Happy Valentine's Day, my lovelies!

(Um, yeah, still alive over here. And I miss you all terribly. Which probably doesn't mean much given that I haven't been around in five months(!). But I promise there will be more of me in future! I am no less crazybusy, but I am determined! I need friends and fannishness and my one safe space on the internets. ♥ you all.)

This entry was originally posted at http://winkingstar.dreamwidth.org/288120.html.

I'm a superstar!

winkingstar — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 01:40:54 GMT

My library made a music video and I'm in it as a back-up singer! It is [HERE], should you wish to see me and my coworkers being total dorks. We released it to the wilds of the Internet on Monday morning and it's already got 1400 views. O_o As with anything on the Internet, there are some haters, but we had tons of fun making it and the feedback has been overall positive, so whatevs! :D (Though, if you felt inclined to leave a nice comment on the video page, that would be awesome.)

In other news, RL is super insanely crazy-busy. As evidenced by my lack of attention to LJ/DW. I do miss you all, though! :( Oh! We're overdue for a tea party anyway, right? I'll scope out a slightly less busy weekend when I'll be able to play hostess. :)

Meanwhile, TV shows are back next week! What are you all excited about? I'm excited for Castle, Hawaii Five-O, and Glee. :D Oh, and Psych and NCIS:LA. Of the new shows, I'm going to try the two fairy tale ones, of course: Grimm and Once Upon A Time (such original titles...). One of them looked more interesting than the other, but of course I'll try them both.

[ETA: Whoops, I totally forgot to mention Doctor Who! Still excited about that, too! Although, I'm currently stuck on "Night Terrors" because I get creeped out way easily. /o\ So now I will probably just put off all the remaining episodes until Thanksgiving and have a mini-marathon with my bff like last year.]

Hugs all around! ♥

This entry was originally posted at http://winkingstar.dreamwidth.org/287860.html.

hurricaneapocalypse

winkingstar — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 22:44:41 GMT

Hiya! Life has been crazy and then got crazier. Hence the lack of update-ness. For instance, this week:

Monday: massive power outage at work, so I didn't have to go in
Tuesday: Scrambling to make up for missing Monday in my preparations for students returning to campus and then a random earthquake! Which was tiny by the time it got near me (registered as ~2.0 in New Jersey) and I'm used to them as a California native anyway, but still caused me quite a bit of bafflement since I'm not used to those out here.
Wednesday: Running around crazily as students return to campus (and specifically, the students I supervise)
Thursday: More start-of-term crazyness, including nearly five hours of talking for interviews, training, and meetings, plus growing panic over Irene.
Friday: Further start-of-term scrambling and panic over the hurricaneapocalypse descending upon us. (Earthquakes I can deal with. Storm that's 500 miles across? Freaking me out.)

So I just wanted to post a quick hurricane update for those who might be worried! I found a coworker to adopt me for the weekend since my lack of a car was freaking me out in the event of an evacuation. I relocated to her house around noon today, just as the rain was starting, and we are having a costume drama marathon until the power goes out. Also, we made chocolate chip bran muffins. So it's been a pretty nice afternoon and the companionship has kept me from freaking out. Of course, the worst is yet to come....

I'm posting updates on FB and twitter as long as I have wifi. And text-don't-call if you're worried, both to conserve my phone's battery and because voice lines are more crowded than data lines.

Be safe and be smart, fellow East Coasters! ♥

This entry was originally posted at http://winkingstar.dreamwidth.org/287648.html.

Tell them stories

winkingstar — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 23:13:12 GMT

My pod_together/pod_together project is now live! :D

Why We Tell Our Stories: An Introduction to the New Oxford Universal Collection of Folktales, Dreamings, and Myths, by Doctor Constance Nine
[His Dark Materials, gen, written by novembersmith and recorded by yours truly!]
Teaser line: The fairy tale, "Lyra and the Harpy with No Name," is only a small sequence within the well-known mythic arc, The Thousand Garden Cycle.

Squee! novembersmith is supremely fabulous! Not only did she write me this fabulous (fairy tale!) story to read aloud, but she did it in less than a week on extremely last minute notice (after my original partner defaulted). I love fairy tales and I love HDM, though I don't play in that 'verse all that often, and novembersmith gave me such a wonderful combination of both. And besides writing a wonderful fairy tale, she added a really cool academic framework for it, too! Check it out! You can read and/or listen (mp3, m4b, and streaming) at the above link and please let us both know if you enjoyed it! :D

novembersmith asked for my reading strengths, and of course I said calm and quiet stories match my voice better than action-packed plotty stories, and particularly fairy tales. So then she sent me this wonderful story and the academic framework gave me some fun elements to play around with. I wanted my voice to sound different for each section, so I recorded the academic bits first and then went back to record the tale later. I also got to add in a few sound effects since the framework indicates that this story is an oral history recording from some future space stationy place. (And thus, tangential thanks also go to lunchy_munchy for coercing me into using GarageBand while she was here and thus making it so much easier for me to add effects.) I also moved my usual title/author/reader info blurb to the end of the podfic instead of the beginning in an effort to keep the podfic "in character" as a transmission.

So not only was it a wonderful story, but it also challenged me a bit and added to my repertoire, which is exactly what I was hoping for from this project! (Kudos to the mods for coming up with the idea and being awesome throughout the challenge!)

p.s. For those who don't know (and I'm not sure I ever said anyway), my default icon is inspired by HDM. :D

This entry was originally posted at http://winkingstar.dreamwidth.org/287151.html.

Another year has come and gone...

winkingstar — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 20:42:57 GMT

Bastille Day was rather unremarkable, hence my not posting until three days later. I turned 28 quietly and uneventfully, but I did at least wear bleu-blanc-et-rouge and obtain some pastries from the French bakery in town. And I got some cool presents, yay! Among which an awesome coffee table book of Antarctica with gorgeous photos from my parents and this from my bff:

Today I did my duty and saw the last Harry Potter film. The ending (in general, not just the epilogue) still fills me with rage, but it also has my favoritest moment(s) of the entire series. (Namely: Neville leading the Hogwarts resistance. ♥ And getting to kill Nagini.) And this is why my love/hate relationship with HP is so complicated. I think I would like to reread the books now, though. But then, there is so much ELSE to read. :/

Boring update is boring. But hey, I am still alive and another year older (and perhaps wiser, but still prone to twirling and staring at things in wonder because I refuse to grow up entirely).

This entry was originally posted at http://winkingstar.dreamwidth.org/286872.html.

pod together!

winkingstar — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 01:35:32 GMT

Hey people! The pod-together challenge went live today, with two or three new works being posted each day until the 26th! The point of this challenge was to promote collaboration between authors and podfic artists, so there's a whole lot of new fic written specifically to be recorded posted simultaneously with the recordings. I had a lot of fun doing mine (of which more later, when it is actually posted) and I am so excited to see what everyone got up to. Check it out on LJ or DW! :D

This entry was originally posted at http://winkingstar.dreamwidth.org/286579.html.

How I spent my summer vacation

winkingstar — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 01:37:36 GMT

Why, hello there, internets! I have been off and about doing things for the past while.

First, there was lunchy_munchy's visit from 10 to 16 June (technically 11 June, by the time her tragically delayed flight got in (ironically she was stuck in Philly, me having vacated said city several hours earlier in order to get propinquitine and meet her in D.C.)). But we finally collected our Australian fangirl and caught the last train back to propinquitine's flat, so it was a success (plus, she had her luggage—had it been me, I just know my luggage would have gone astray after so many hours of travelling). So then propinquitine and I had fun showing off D.C. and lunchy_munchy seemed to enjoy it all, too, so much fun was had. Yay fangirls! \o/ Then I took lunchy_munchy back to the much-maligned Philadelphia (I literally offered my hostess services along the lines of "Well, I live in Philly, but I hate it, so I'll see if I can wrangle an invite from a D.C. friend too :D"). I had to go back to work, but I sent her off to the city with my popup map and travel tips and she seemed to have a good time, and she only got lost once and found herself again with minimal trouble, so it was all okay. And then I sent her on her way to New York, for further adventures with other fangirls. :)

Then, on 22 June I went home to my beloved California! For my mum's birthday on the 23rd, which I haven't been around for in ages, so that was extra nice and she was extra happy. Plus, you know, I have the bestest parents, so it's always lovely to go home. ♥ I stayed for a week and a half, which was not long enough, and then I tragically had to leave on the stupid 6AM flight on 2 July.

Unfortunately, June was full of too much fun (and good company omg, I miss people), and now the rest of the summer (possibly even the rest of the year) just seems sad and bleak by comparison. Blah. :(

This entry was originally posted at http://winkingstar.dreamwidth.org/286336.html.

mail call!

winkingstar — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 01:27:40 GMT

It is time once again for another round of random post! So, if I don't have your address or if you've moved since I last sent you random post, leave your address in the (screened) comments or PM/email me. :)

This entry was originally posted at http://winkingstar.dreamwidth.org/286110.html.

winkingstar — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 02:39:13 GMT

Tired & sad tonight.

My own sad is small, but it seems like nearly everyone on my flist is sad/distressed/sick as well, which makes me sad and distressed.

*hugs everyone very tightly* ♥

This entry was originally posted at http://winkingstar.dreamwidth.org/285840.html.

winkingstar — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 01:52:47 GMT

Woo, I seem to be caught up with archiving podfics in my assigned fandoms! \o/ The archive is still being temperamental, but it is at least letting us in now (after multiple page refreshes) and letting us edit things. We will all be so much happier when it is fixed properly, though. I should do some archiving for unassigned fandoms, but my internet is being slow and I am tired of fighting the archive for tonight.

Urgh, I need to clean my flat. lunchy_munchy is coming this weekend! Well, we will be in D.C. with propinquitine first, but then we will be coming back to Philly on Monday, so my flat should be at least somewhat presentable. Will have to work on that the next couple evenings. I did at least put away the books I got at the library book sale over the weekend and the books my mum sent from home. I need to reorganize the bookshelves soon, though. I'm starting to run out of room... again... ^^;

I got a tumblr, if anyone is interested (it's for RL rather than fannish things, but of course I'm a geek in RL, so there's that (not that there's much of anything at the moment)). I got it for work so I could take over our Digital Library tumblr which had been abandoned, but since everyone is doing it these days I figured we should get on that again. Somehow from that, I ended up getting stuck with two more accounts for the Digital Library (on Facebook & Twitter), so now I have a truly ridiculous number of social media accounts, personally and professionally. Let's see... 4.5 Twitter, 3 Facebook, 2 tumblr, 2 Flickr, and a handful of blog-type things. :O

This entry was originally posted at http://winkingstar.dreamwidth.org/285466.html.

five questions (x2)

winkingstar — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 01:52:06 GMT

Comment with "Come at me, bro"
• I'll respond by asking you five questions so I can get to know you better.
• Update your journal with the answers to the questions.
• Include this explanation in the post and offer to ask other people questions.

from escapisms
5. What movie have you seen over and over again and against your better judgment you totally love?
[Ladyhawke]. It is both incredibly terrible and incredibly awesome (which, of course, makes it incredibly hilarious). (Oh, also, it is incredibly '80s. Which tells you all you need to know, really.) The opening credits are especially hilarious. All the actors are terrible, except wee Matthew Broderick, who totally makes the entire film worthwhile. (Though the rest is worthwhile for the lols.) I haven't watched this in a while; must fix that...
4. If you could turn any book into a movie (that would accurately follow the book and be exactly what you want), which one would that be?
Hmm, I don't think I actually think about that much. Books and movies are separate media for me. I do get excited (and frequently disappointed) when I hear that books I love are being made into movies though. So one of my most beloved books that I would love to be remade into a worthwhile movie is Ella Enchanted. Disney utterly missed the entire point of that book in the movie and that really made me sad. Which is not to say that I'm a total purist; I do enjoy movies that are not literal adaptations of a book (since, as I said, they are entirely separate media to me), so long as I feel the movie captures the spirit of the book.
3. Which did you listen to in Middle School/High School: Nsync or Backstreet Boys?
Backstreet Boys. I had some Nsync, too, but I liked BSB better.
3.5 And did you slash them? Pairings?
Nope. I don't do rpf, and that was before I discovered the magic of fannish things anyway.
2. What was the first story you ever podficced?
[Modern Myth] by propinquitine. Even though I started podficcing for the 2008 Amplificathon, which is all about the small fandom love, I wanted to start with my home fandom (at the time) and I also wanted to start with a story written by a friend, so I knew she'd support me. But I dove right in after that and I never looked back. :)
1. Do you put milk in soup?
er, no. I have never heard of doing that! Other than cream-based soups, of course...

from nikkikitty
1.) What is your #1 favorite book of all time?
Eek, such a cruel question for a librarian! How can I pick just one??? Of the "classics", my fave is Jane Austen's Persuasion. Fairy tale retelling: Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine. Picture book: tie between Pockets by Jennifer Armstrong and Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney.
2.) What is your favorite thing about wherever you live?
I am not that fond of Philadelphia and it is my one sadness here. But in the tiny suburb I live in, my favorite thing is the Gryphon Café, which is possibly my favorite café anywhere— friendly staff, nice atmosphere, and excellent (loose leaf!) tea selection! As a tea drinker, the last is very important and so hard to find (in the States anyway!). They are primarily a coffeeshop, so I deeply appreciate that they also have such a great tea selection! (Also, I quite like my wee flat. It is tiny, but it is also cute and it has the perfect amount of light from the windows and it is perfectly situated for getting around.)
3.) Where is one place you want to vacation but have never been?
Paris! I am going in 2013, for my 30th birthday. :D For a place I want to go but have no definite plans to go yet, Ireland. Because I curated an [exhibit] on Irish travel writing last year and it really made me want to go!
4.) Who is your idol?
[Freya Stark]: writer and adventurer! She was amazing. She was British by birth, Italian by residence, and adventurer by choice. She travelled around the Middle East, mostly unchaperoned, in the early- to mid-20th century (including working for the Allies in the Middle East during WWII). I have actually only read two of her books so far, but I love her writing style. And I read a biography of her, which only made me love her more, because she was totally not a perfect person, and it was actually so refreshing to discover that she was a real person with very real flaws after being in awe of her writing. Also, I visited her hometown in Italy, wee little [Asolo] in the northern Italian foothills, and I don't think I have ever been quite so giddy to be in a place. Being there, where one of my heroes lived and breathed and imagined, was so exhilarating!
(Runner-up: Maureen Johnson, YA writer and [awesome twitterer]. I like her books, but I really love her personality. She's hilarious on twitter! And I really love that she's so playful and mischievous. It is my own ambition never to let go of my whimsicality—and I was just telling my supervisor the other day that I have yet to leave my childhood entirely. It is nice to know that there is a somewhat well-known adult who feels the same way!)
5.) What's the weird US holiday on your birthday?
There isn't one! But that's okay because I love my European holiday: I was born on July 14, Bastille Day. Even though I am not French (at least not significantly, there's probably a smidge on the European mutt side of my family), I love celebrating Bastille Day (hence my plot to go to Paris for my birthday). What's not to love about an excuse for eating French food? Mmm, crepes! :)

I utterly fail at picking "just one" of anything. ^^;

This entry was originally posted at http://winkingstar.dreamwidth.org/285287.html.

#*@$%!!

winkingstar — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 01:08:01 GMT

Please, for the love of sweet fuzzy bunnies, give all the audiofic archivists you know (and maybe even those you don't) a hug.

In addition to dealing with the overwhelming (but exciting!) volume of podfics being produced for the amplificathon challenge, we are also dealing with a broken archive. It started out only half-broken, but now it is not entirely broken only in the sense that you can still see the archive pages. We are having less and less success at actually adding entries and have pretty much lost all ability to edit entries. We swap emails with subjects like "archive pissing me off" as we strive and fail to coax another entry out of the archive. We are all sad and dejected and our emails are full of :( and :/ faces. So, you know, I'm sure some love would not go amiss while we attempt to limp along with our beloved archive as it is being eaten by gremlins. (We are, of course, hopeful that the gremlin-exterminators will come soon, but it is very sad and frustrating in the meanwhile.)

On a happier note, more podfic from the past week or so:

Possibilities by firefly124 (HP, Neville/Luna, 1:47 mins., LJ//DW)

Catherine's Fairy-Tale by ryfkah (Northanger Abbey, Catherine/Henry [but mostly gen], 6:22 mins, LJ//DW)

Good Night, Sweet Prince by flaming_muse (Glee, Kurt/Blaine, 4:04 mins., LJ//DW)

Your Laugh Is The Best Sound by twentysomething (Glee, Kurt/Blaine, 5:34 mins, LJ//DW)

Gravedust by Electra/starlady (Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix, gen, 17:21 mins., LJ//DW)</ul>

This entry was originally posted at http://winkingstar.dreamwidth.org/284983.html.

the most exciting comm ever!

winkingstar — Tue, 17 May 2011 01:49:31 GMT

Open for sign ups May 16 to May 27 on LJ and DW

sign up sign up sign up!!! :D

This entry was originally posted at http://winkingstar.dreamwidth.org/284721.html.

input wanted!

winkingstar — Sat, 14 May 2011 17:44:29 GMT

My library is big on open access and all kinds of other wonderful open ideas. I love them for it. Our Digital Library, in particular, releases most of our images under Creative Commons licenses (exceptions being digitized items that are still in copyright). Unfortunately, most institutions don't embrace openness like we do. Last summer, I attended a meeting of Philadelphia-area special collections libraries and nearly wept with frustration when everyone at that meeting was all "DRM!!! We must protect our digital content!!!" Since then, I have been trying (in a very back-burner sort of way, obviously) to come up with an idea for showing off our own use of Creative Commons and how that's a good (great! awesome!) thing. And finally I was randomly struck with inspiration last week.

(This inspiration turned out to be especially timely since this week Yale [announced] their own "digital commons" and people on Twitter have been chirping excitedly about it because it's Yale and they have that stupid Big Name Clout that we don't, even though we've been doing Creative Commons since our Digital Library began. Bitterness at the Ivy Leagues aside, I got even more supremely annoyed when I actually looked at their ["digital commons"], which apparently everyone chirping excitedly hasn't actually done? Because it's nothing exciting at all. First, I couldn't find half the things they listed as being ready. The ones I did find were terrible. Yes, you can see them, but the images aren't useful at all, certainly not for use in publications or scholarly study. Check out [this painting] for instance; at that size, you can't make out any of the details an art historian would want to look at and it's not even useful for anything else I can think of. It's tiny. My [Digital Library] releases large, high-quality scans — currently only jpegs are available online, but tiffs are available on request (still at no cost) and we'd like to put them online once we figure out how to do that without killing our servers. And we've been doing this for years. It really bothered me to see people getting so excited over Yale's ridiculously tiny "open access" images. It may be a huge step for the Ivy Leagues, but it's nothing new or groundbreaking in the broader world of digital libraries.)

So, the idea: I want to organize a Creative Commons Art Remix Contest.

It would be broadly open to anyone, and artists could use any CC-licensed images, but since the contest would be sponsored by my Digital Library, we'd stipulate that at least one image has to be from our collection. Submissions would have to be in digital form, but could be in any type of graphic media. The winner and runners-up would be displayed in an online exhibit.

I had an insanely busy week so I haven't had the time to start researching/planning/thinking about this in depth yet. Do any of you know of any similar contests? Or any fanart remix contests that I could adapt rules from?

Also, what would be a good prize? For other library contests, we usually throw some sort of Apple device at people (iPad, iPod Touch), but I feel like we need something more relevant to the openness of Creative Commons and what we'd be trying to promote. Much as I love my Apple products, they're not really fans of openness.

Thoughts? Ideas? Especially from my artistically-inclined friends. ♥

This entry was originally posted at http://winkingstar.dreamwidth.org/284184.html.

life continues crazily (& poetically)

winkingstar — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 01:46:43 GMT

Why hello again! It is less than a month since my last update! Go me!

I survived the conference that took rather a lot of blood, sweat, and tears out of me, in addition to causing an entire month of panic attacks. In fact, it all went quite swimmingly! The main cause of my anxiety/concern/neuroses was organizing a booth (and managing the design and ordering of all the necessary swag!) for the alpha launch of my library's latest open source product (*cough*VuDL, digital library administration software*cough*). Most important thing I learned: never ever be a middle (wo)man. It is not fun at all and invariably makes everyone want to hit/kick everyone else. But it all worked out in the end. (It was extremely nice to see people admiring our swag at the table and know that the aforementioned blood/sweat/tears/panic attacks were not entirely in vain.)

I also attended the conference (it was for academic librarians), which was quite awesome. There were some really great sessions. And, having recently acquired an iPod Touch, I was able to tweet the conference, which added a whole new layer to the conference experience, very cool. I was apparently something of a minor twitter rock star, even. *g* (Downside: I made myself go to the tweet-up because I like to torture myself with awkward social situations (by which I mean, there are social situations and I am awkward), and some guy actually pointed out to me that he couldn't believe I was the same person from twitter because I was so prolific on twitter and so very quiet irl. I am keenly aware of my social awkwardness and do not, in fact, need this pointed out to me.)

Also, hey, it is April! Y'all know that means Poetry Month and therefore poetry spam, but this year I am only doing it at my professional(ish) journal, so check out barefootsong if you would like your poetry fix.

Also also, it is amplificathon/amplificathon time! Lots of podfic, yay! This also means lots of work for the archivists, which includes myself (because I am insanely, weirdly in love with metadata). We are busily working away behind the scenes to add lots more awesomeness to the [audiofic archive]. I am also still determined to do some podfic this month, though I haven't got to it yet. Possibly this weekend, but if not, I have a four-day weekend for Easter so definitely then!

How's with you all?

This entry was originally posted at http://winkingstar.dreamwidth.org/284075.html.

podfic makes the world better

winkingstar — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 01:21:42 GMT

So the amplirecathon is happening again and I have been far too busy and inattentive to participate (not to mention the fact that I have been extremely remiss in even listening to any podfic lately). But other people are reccing and it's always such fun to see what other people like and find new stories and readers to listen to, so be sure to check it out! It's running through the 28th.

And! I have so far been recced four times by three different people! And two of those were for Wide Open Ocean. Both the people who recced that one mentioned the excellent quality of sadness/despair in my reading, which I pretty much achieved through feeling that way myself at the time. I recorded that fic because that loneliness really resonated with me, just after I'd moved 3,000 miles across the country again and was still finding my feet in my new place. And here I am finding my feet all over again today, though at least I now have friends on the same coast as me, if not in the immediate vicinity. (Also, podcath mentioned the excellent sound quality, and you guys, I cannot tell you how much that means! Sound editing is a bitch, plain and simple (excuse the language; I don't swear often, as you've probably noticed, but editing really is just bitchy). It takes me on average four times as long as the finished recording length to edit a podfic. And to have someone take note of that is awesome.)
[ETA: Now there are three recs of WOO! THREE!!! I am all aflutter and teary-eyed!]

But rhea314's recs really made my day. She recced two of my podfics in one post, even! First, she recced Light On as a lullaby. Which, yeah. I think it's one of my very favourite fics and it's definitely the podfic I'm most proud of. lavvyan wrote a beautiful story and when I read it, it just ached to be read aloud. It's a quiet story, but in the way that makes me think of telling stories by the fire, where you're not just telling the story, you're sharing it. So I'm always happy to have this one categorized as a lullaby.

The other one rhea314 recced was one of my earliest, Parameters and she says "This is one of the wonderful examples of how podfic can add layers to a story without being dramatic. This is the wonder of someone there behind the mic showing you a story." That right there is pretty much what I live for in the world of podfics, both as a reader and as a listener. I put myself into my recordings and I always love it when I can hear others in their own recordings. My very favourite thing is hearing a smile in someone's voice while they're reading. I didn't know you could hear a smile (independent of facial cues) before I discovered podfic. And sharing those smiles is delightful.

I am thrilled beyond words whenever anyone leaves a comment on one of my podfics; when someone actually recs my work to a wide audience, it makes me so very happy and giddy and proud to be part of this oral tradition, to be part of this wonderful network of voices around the world. ♥

(I am so going to do a podfic next month if it kills me. Sound editing be damned.)

This entry was originally posted at http://winkingstar.dreamwidth.org/283886.html.