After leaving my hair for entirely too long upwards of eight weeks, please don’t hurt me I’ve finally got my roots done again, and toned more so it isn’t as yellow/green. It’s finally white, with random darker bits that look glorious but are totally only there because the dye didn’t hold as well.
Rather than an all-round pixie this time, we cut shorter on the back and sides, with longer up top, thanks to a photo I saw in People magazine of Charlize Theron. It was longer on top, and sort of delicately curled, so we’re going to get mine to grow a little and do the same. You can kind of see our waves and curls here, but they’ll be better once it’s all longer.
As per the norm with white hair, I’m toning it weekly with purple shampoo that stops it from turning ugly yellow. This is a lot more important than people might realize, because the reason people with dyed blonde hair might get judged or sneered at is their yellowing hair. If you want to keep the colour you dyed, you have to tone it. Everyone learns this the hard way the first time, but it improves, trust me. The only problem is it doesn’t dye my roots while I’m at it, but hey, this is my punishment for wanting to live by Gwen Stefani’s words again:
I did promise my hair wouldn’t be brown anymore, didn’t I?!
Yep, I am blonde again.
If you’ve been following my hairventures since the get-go, I was blonde for about six months last year.
This photo is from January of last year. I was blonde until March or so, actually – so essentially a whole year passed being unblonded. I actually joked that last year I went through a range of Game of Thrones-related hair: I started the year a Targaryen, then I was kissed by fire, and finally, a Baratheon, black of hair.
Which means I’m a Targaryen again!
And that actually ties into why I’m blonde again.
If you see from the previous linked post – January of last year – I quit being blonde because it’s expensive. My hair is very dark naturally, and apparently grows super fast. I had noticeable roots within a week of dyeing this time around. James and I were talking a few months back, and he was saying how part of the reason he loves Daenerys Targaryen, of Game of Thrones fame, is because of her white hair. Emilia Clarke, her actress, has even said that the best, most empowering part of playing Dany is her wig. There’s something about that stand-out, unnatural white.
So, when I pined about my long lost white hair, James offered to help me pay for it. The only time he saw my white hair was the first time we met; afterwards I had red and black. He was curious, I was pining, and voila. Because I am poor and he is usually not, upkeep is shared.
And I get to be blonde again!
Maybe next time we’ll add funky colours again. We shall see! 😀
Everyone chooses books for different reasons. It might be that they only read one genre, or prefer dialogue to action, or vice versa. There are many ways to choose a book.
I start with my genres when I’m looking at a book. Being that I work in a bookstore, I’m subject to all sorts of books every day, and I like to think that I read a variety of things, but I still always look for a few certain things to begin with. My favourite genre is fiction, and to break it down, I prefer epic and high fantasy, and historical fiction. Despite the old adage, I do judge a book by its cover, because a cover is like the face of a person: it doesn’t tell you much about the inside, but it helps you choose whether or not you want to keep going. If that makes me terribly shallow, so be it. I have found many books with terrible covers that are decent reads – but I have also found many terrible books with terrible covers that should have warned me. Again, working in a bookstore gives me access to this every day.
I love epic dialogue. Characters who can have banter and arguments back and forth, and build relationships that way. That being said, I do really love action and description. Purple prose isn’t something that’s really enticed me, because it’s so exhausting to read after a while, but I do appreciate colourful settings and thoughtful descriptions. Descriptions help make a character and a story, and a combination of dialogue and description is what really does it for me. If I had to choose, I would probably pick dialogue over description, though, being that I do more of that myself.
I look for strong female characters who don’t behave like childish idiots, and history that has been properly researched. Fantasy that is believable, despite being just that – fantasy. I really dislike most urban fantasy, despite PURITY being technically classed as urban fantasy. If a book has a sassy-looking woman on the cover wearing pleather and holding a sword, I won’t give the book the time of day. It might be the book that changes my life, and I’ll never know. It just looks so silly to me that I can’t even stomach it.
And it probably goes without saying, but I won’t read a book if it isn’t well written. When Fifty Shades of Grey was hot shit last year, many of my friends and family insisted I read it. I wouldn’t, and not because it was filthy erotica, but because I heard it was terribly written. I am a fan of the Game of Thrones HBO show on tv, and upon the urging of a friend I started reading the Song of Ice and Fire books. I seriously dislike Martin’s writing style. I know it’s terrible to like the show more than the books, but oh my god. I’m love the overall story, but the minute and useless details and rambling idiocy and text walls and flashbacks make me want to slit my throat. It’s taken me half a year to read two and a half of the books, and I can read faster than most.
Historical fiction that’s well done, epic fantasy, bold dialogue and beautiful descriptions, and an understanding of good writing. Pretty straightforward, actually.
Several weeks ago, I attended a weekend long writing workshop at the local college, presided over by Gail Anderson-Dargatz (The Cure For Death By Lightning). It was a neat experience, to be sure, listening to the opinions of one of Canada’s most well known literary authors. However, after the two days, it turned out I knew most of the things we discussed, and I’m already doing things right in terms of getting my name out there, but I’m going to quickly cover some of the things we discussed. Here, I’ll copy down the meagre notes I took and add on to the ones that I found particularly relevant. Hopefully one of you will find it as helpful as I did! Continue reading →
The most lovely and delightful Elisa Nuckle pointed me in the direction of a Fantasy writing contest by Fantasy Faction. The rules are easy to work with, and there’s still a lot of time left if one reading is interested in entering. The winners get published in a fantasy anthology, so this is kind of a big deal.
I was at a loss for what to do, then it slapped me in the face when I was leaving for work after Elisa told me about it. A few months ago, I’d got an idea for a story with a polytheistic religion, a god for basically everything, and the consequences of their actions in the lives of mortals. I posted the first chunk on the ol’ blog here a while back (deleted because of the whole writing contest thing). So since it didn’t go anywhere as a full-length novel, I figured I’d use it for this. The word cap is 8000, and I’m almost at 7000 and near the end. I’m pleased with it so far, so here’s to hoping!
I’m also about to hit one of the major milestones of Changeling. Following a glorious battle involving swords, arrows, magic and dragons, a cease-fire will be called and shit will go dooooown.
Has anyone else heard of this contest and is joining? What’s your story about? And did anyone else catch the glory that was the Game of Thrones season 2 finale last night? I cried twice – once for Tyrion and Shae, and once for Dany’s nostalgic adventures in the Hall of the Undying.
Did anyone else shit brix throughout all of this Sunday’s Game of Thrones episode? I’m always on the fence with the Lannisters. I’ve always liked Tyrion, and I think I’m getting to really like Tywin, due to his jovial interactions with Arya, but I’m never sure if I like or hate Cersei and Jaime. But this episode was one in which I liked both. Cersei actually showed her heart when talking to Sansa and Tyrion; Jaime proved he was a man of honour, despite taking a stab at poor Ned when he did.
But the end. The end. Theon Greyjoy needs a swift kick in the rear. I’m not sure if I can hate him more, the little shit. I suppose we’ll find out on Sunday.
Ugh. Frustrating. And the end of the True Blood rerun I caught was a cliffhanger, too. HBO is making me suffer; but they know I’ll just keep coming back.
Steam had a midweek sale this week that I got wholly into. I don’t usually check out the sales except for Sims 3 Pets expansion, because I am not buying that for $40 regular, but this time was an exception. They had Plants vs Zombie GOTY edition for 75% off. It was just over two bucks. Who am I to resist? That has got to be the most addicting game ever.
I also have writer’s block, in a sense. I know where I want to go in Changeling and OtK, but I keep getting distracted by, you guessed it, video games. My Bosmer assassin in Skyrim is getting all my attention, having now surpassed by Nord warrior in levels and skill. It’s hard to get things done when there’s Skyrim to be had. I also amped up a bunch of mods: a blood spatter mod, which puts gallons of blood spilling about after attacks and death, a Hobbit Hole mod that is exactly what it sounds like, and more killcam shots. Oh, and a real-light mod, which makes everything darker and rather spookier. I love mods. The Skyrim Steam workshop is a beautiful thing. Never has a mod been so easy to download.
I’m having a difficult time concentrating on anything lately. Maybe I’ll write a short story and put ‘er up here, just to change things up. We’ll see!
I don’t normally watch a lot of tv. I’ll keep it on while I’m in the living room on my computer, even though I’ll usually be listening to music, only because I’m like an old person in that I like the company. Or a dog in that I like the movement. It’s nice.
When I do watch tv, it’s because Seinfeld reruns are on, or American Dad, Family Guy, Futurama, the Dating Guy, etc. I like stupid tv, as is painfully obvious.
But recently, my mother and I watched the first season of HBO’s Game of Thrones straight through twice, and when we realized season two was starting we panicked. We didn’t have HBO, know anyone close to who had HBO, and we couldn’t wait to stream or buy season 2. So, an hour before it started, we subscribed to HBO. desperation, amirite?
Season 5 of Mad Men started a few weeks ago as well. We watched it at 7, then GoT at 8, and all was well.
I really really really really reallyenjoy history and historical fiction; this is exemplified by my adoration of the Borgia reign in Italy at the beginning of the Renaissance. Cesare Borgia is one of my favourite historical figures, up there with Napoleon Bonaparte. So I recently downloaded the first season of the Borgias tv show (and the most beautiful French Canadian actor Francois Arnaud plays Cesare, so this is like a historical hard-on for me) and finished watching just in time for season 2 to start.
Now, my Sundays are booked. Nobody gets me on Sundays until good-tv-season is over. The Borgias at 7, GoT at 8, and Mad Men at 9 – otherwise the Borgias and Mad Men would coincide.
Cesare Borgia, Jon Snow, Don Draper. Can Sundays get any better?
The answer is no.
A resounding no.
Despite being a cardinal with a pope for a father, Cesare goes out of his way to give bedroom eyes to his sister, and pick up chicks like nobody's business.
JP Marshman 