So, writing is progressing. As mentioned somewhere before, I just want to finish Meanwhile, Back on Earth... and move on. Again, it's been cathartic for me, and it may have merit, just not now or in the immediate future. Meanwhile, I've also been working on background stuff for Mark of the Phoenix and the whole New Athens series (all names still subject to change). Been using stuff from the character sheets e_dog gave out at the last writing group meeting. I'm finding that I'm making service records for characters in Challenger, and kradical's insights to the Klingons in the IKS Gorkon series is really helping me develop secondary characters and such.

I used to look at this kind of background work as grunt work, but, I'm finding that I'm really starting to enjoy it. I feel like the characters are starting to really come to life, and I'm getting so much more to work with! Though the important part is that I'm already doing work on what will, hopefully this time, be my first published work, so, I'm not feeling so "stuck" in life.

Yay? Yay!

New Jersey to require organ donation decision

TOM HESTER Jr.

The Associated Press

TRENTON, N.J. - In five years, New Jersey residents seeking driver's licenses will have to decide whether they want to become organ donors under a new first-of-its kind law.

The names of residents who want to be organ donors will be maintained in a state registry, while those who decide against organ donation will have to acknowledge reviewing information about it.

"Ultimately, we want to move this important conversation out of the emergency room, where illness and injury already create a profound burden, and into the living room, where a thoughtful and deliberate decision can be reached without the pain of loss looming on the horizon," said Acting Gov. Richard J. Codey, who signed the bill into law Tuesday. Codey was filling in for Gov. Jon S. Corzine, who was in Israel.

Howard M. Nathan, president and CEO of the Gift of Life Donor Program, has said New Jersey would be the first state to impose such requirements.

The state has five years to get the program up and running. People who currently have licenses won't have to make their decision until they apply for a renewal. Individuals who aren't ready to decide may designate a decision-maker on their behalf.

The law, known as the New Jersey Hero Act, also makes the state the first to incorporate mandatory organ donation education into the high school curriculum, beginning with the 2009-10 school year.

At the collegiate level, institutions of higher education will be required to provide information on New Jersey's organ donor policies through student health services.

"We're raising the dialogue about organ donation and ensuring that New Jerseyans talk to their loved ones about the possibility of becoming a donor," said Sen. Joseph Vitale, a bill sponsor.

Cathleen Lewis, spokeswoman for the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, said about 1.75 million New Jersey residents have checked the organ donation box when applying for either a license or an identification card. That's 24.5 percent of the state's licenses and ID cards.

About 99,000 people in the United States await organ donations, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing, including 3,050 in New Jersey.

Since 1995, more than 85,000 Americans have died waiting for an organ, including nearly 1,900 New Jerseyans, according to the network.

A recent national report card prepared by the educational group Donate Life America shows a 10 percent increase in donor designations over the last 18 months, bringing the total number of registered donors in the United States to nearly 70 million.

According to the group, 35 percent of licensed drivers and ID card holders have committed themselves to donation through a state registry or motor vehicle department.

"By increasing outreach and education, all New Jerseyans will be able to make better-informed decisions regarding organ and tissue donation," Assemblyman John F. McKeon said. "Ensuring every resident knows the vital importance of organ donation will make it easier for many more people to take the simple but truly heroic step that can help save a life."

,,,

On the Net:

United Network for Organ Sharing: http://www.unos.org

New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission: http://www.state.nj.us/mvc/

As most of you know, my father received a heart and kidney on August 14, 1997. Unfortunately, the transplanted kidney failed, and he died while waiting for another kidney on February 15, 2003. I am, as always, available to answer questions regarding organ and tissue donation (including blood donation). Share your life, share your decision, recycle yourself. :)

Thanks to terri_osborne, today's best of web is...

I can kill you with my phone...NOT

Honestly, if anyone comes up to me, waving a phone that sounds like a lightsaber, I think I'm going to take a cue from Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark and go for a simple solution. In this case, it'll likely involve hurling the nearest object at the phone-wielding person's head. I think I'd be less skeptical if I didn't know that this application cinches it for lots of people debating purchasing an iPhone. For less than $10, I can get a lightsaber that I can do things that would get me arrested.

Alas, finally an edition of Two Cents not involving sex...

So, I've been thinking about this whole phenomenon of CGI - Computer Generated Image, or, in some circles, CGA - Computer Generated Animation - and I'm wondering if it isn't overused. I think all the CGI stuff is what killed the Star Wars prequels for people. I think Jar Jar Binks subliminally suggested to people to stab their computers as the only way to kill that character. And some of the CGI stuff added to the original trilogy stuff, I could do without. Han shot first, the Sarlaac didn't have a fling with the plant from Little Shop of Horrors, though the Death Star explosion is a little more believable and doesn't look like a kid blowing up a basket ball in his back yard with some M-80s.

I think the greatest disservice of CGI is creating characters without an actor. Unless it's a Pixar animated film, I think CGI characters should be used sparingly. Some acceptable exceptions to this would be, for example, Scooby-Doo and Optimus Prime. But Jar Jar? If they had tried to put an actor there, I think most actors would have complained at how ridiculous the character was, and there would have been some revisions or elimination of the character. If you need to use CGI to introduce a character that no one wants to portray, well, that's your first clue that maybe your work needs some revision.

Watching the behind-the-scenes stuff of Return of the Jedi, one can see how the actors and puppeteers truly brought a fictional character to life. Dominar Rygel XVI, Jabba the Hutt, and Kermit the Frog have all benefited from having a real person or persons working them, making them expressive, giving them personality. Jabba the Hutt seemed more real in Return of the Jedi than in any of the other films.

Okay, so, Jar Jar has eye stalks and See-Creepio didn't have coverings. Either be creative or use CGI to enhance things. Give the other actors more to interact with than a stick.

Just my $0.02...

...sitting at Dunkin Donuts with evilest_kitten and Wes, after dinner at the diner, futzing around on the internet while a thunderstorm rages outside.

And watching evilest_kitten getting excited over the home foreclosure listing...

So, at the writing group, there was a discussion about green screens and actors trying to react appropriately. Below is a repost of something that i couldn't help but think about during the conversation. Enjoy!


Star Trek: The Motion Picture (Pon Farr Edition) from Darth Mojo on Vimeo.

Amateur? Dammit, I'm a professional!!!



Yeah, I'll buy that...

Oh, and work was amusing earlier. Fire alarm went off. Turns out, it was a sensor triggered in our office. People had been running the paper shredder, and the shredder got jammed. So, they had to clean it out, and the resulting dust set off the alarm. Took about 15 minutes for it to waft up to the sensor. But now we know what we need to do when we really want a break...

Ummm...yeah. Eerily accurate....

From daytonward...

NEW YORK -- A public school teacher was arrested today at John F. Kennedy International Airport as he attempted to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a set square, a slide rule and a calculator.

At a morning press conference, the Attorney General said he believes the man is a member of the notorious Al-gebra movement. He did not identify the man, who has been charged by the FBI with carrying weapons of math instruction. 'Al-gebra is a problem for us', the Attorney General said. 'They desire solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on tangents in search of absolute values. They use secret code names like 'X' and 'Y' and refer to themselves as 'unknowns', but we have determined that they belong to a common denominator of the axis of medieval with coordinates in every country. As the Greek philanderer Isosceles used to say, 'There are 3 sides to every triangle'.

When asked to comment on the arrest, President Bush said, 'If God had wanted us to have better weapons of math instruction, he would have given us more fingers and toes.'

White House aides told reporters they could not recall a more intelligent or profound statement by the President.

...

I KNEW there was something about math teachers!!!!

This entry very much dedicated to celestialrobino and evilest_kitten...

More good shit from the internet, courtesy of scarybaldguy... I could almost use it for my exhibit...

Once again, popfiend has come through and found another internet treasure...

Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?

Here's my exhibit at the Morris Library, University of Delaware. Click on the link below the pictures to see a larger picture.


Exhibit Front
( Click Here to Continue )
I hope those of you who are local will still come to check out the exhibit in person...

Quick writing update...

Meanwhile, Back on Earth... is up to 140 pages and 39,256 words...


And Star Trek: Challenger: Into the Deep is 106 pages and 28,140 words...


Planning on the work that will be my first published novel is progressing. I may have a word goal of more than 50,000 words. Right now, I am fleshing out the characters and the general society, level of technology, and so on. The ideas I'm having for it, I'm finding, will make it a much stronger work than Meanwhile.

Not that Meanwhile is bad. On the contrary, it's been quite cathartic. Just don't think it's a good debut novel.

Ooh! So, today (and the next two Saturdays) is "Discovery Day" at UD, meaning we have prospective students and their parents touring the campus. It's been a little busier here at the I-desk, but it's mostly enjoyable. And seeing people coming in and walking by my exhibit, then stopping and really looking at my exhibit... MAJOR EGO BOOST!

Speaking of... I took pictures of my exhibit yesterday and will hopefully post them sometime this weekend. But I'm still hoping those who are local will stop in and see it.

And today's Best of the Web goes to popfiend for Michael Bay Presents The Dark Knight and zigamorph for Knight Rider GPS. WANT!

The new batteries for my camera came today. I've been debating back and fourth with ordering two more, just so I can keep them going for a good while. But my camera hasn't operated this well and this reliably in awhile.

Yaay!

So, I took some pics of the kitties (and there's one of Yoda in there as well)...



( More under the cut... )

From itzwicks...



I don't know...maybe it's because I've been watching my Buck Rogers DVDs that I found this hysterical.

More later...

I have awesome cats!

But first...

YoYo has a reverse mohawk on his belly. He went for his ultrasound today and, well, they shaved him. Though when I had an ultrasound, the goop they use got all in my chest hair; I can only imagine what it would have been like if they used that on YoYo's fur. But yeah, I'd take a picture, except I'm still waiting on my new camera batteries to get here, and YoYo would probably caption it with, "I'm never drinking with you assholes again!"

Anyway, as it turns out, he's got a nasty e. coli infection in his right kidney. No cancer, no polyps, no stones. He's been treated for ureter and bladder, but the infection has been retreating to the kidney. So, he'll be on an aggressive antibiotic treatment for the next six months, but, it should wipe out the infection. At least he won't need surgery.

I may need to start sharing some yogurt with him...

So, the other night, TomTom curled up with me, licked my cheek, and purred me to sleep. Last night, YoYo did the same thing. This afternoon, Riffy did the same thing when I laid down for a nap. The cats have been rather affectionate lately. I've been stressed, and they've been there for me. They're actually pretty good listeners, too.

I have awesome cats. I won't say which one is best, as they all have their unique traits. I'm grateful for them all.

Rules:

* Post 3 things you've done that you believe nobody else on your F-list has done.
* If anybody responds with "I've done that," add another thing.
* Encourage your friends to paste this into their own journal to list the unique things they've done.


My three things:

1) Won a bottle of wine at a dance competition in England for being from Delaware, USA and for being a good sport....

2) Danced Bronze International Quickstep in Ohio while smiling at Arnold Schwarzenegger, who watched us...

3) Been pimped out - literally - by Pat for the dance team.

Story regarding 3 for those who are new...

Back during the summer of 2001, Pat had me work with this young lady who had special needs. She had suffered a brain event, leaving her speech-impaired and barely able to walk. Her father enrolled her in singing lessons to work on her speech and in our dance classes to help with her overall coordination. She couldn't quite keep up with the class, and needed individual attention, and as my patience is legendary, Pat put her with me. I worked with her through the summer, and she was able to get around the dance floor by the end of the summer. In fact, her coordination had improved to the point where she was cleared to drive again.

Six months later, this girl's father called Pat and asked if the team would do a show at the Rotary Club in Odessa. He offered $100 for the show, and aid he'd toss in another $100 if I would be his daughter's escort for the evening. Long story short, the team made $200 off the show...

Yes. I took one for the team...

From shodoshan. I...I think I knew people like this...

Progress on writing continues...

Meanwhile, Back on Earth... is 122 pages and 34,246 words...


I came up with some interesting additions to the original story. Need to flesh them out a little more, but, I like the general idea.

Star Trek: Challenger: Into the Deep is 88 pages and 23,180 words...


I'm thinking of starting a third project. Or, resurrect a third project. Farscape. I've got some ideas, and it would probably be even more fanfic than Challenger. I don't know. I need to think about it.

As for reading, I finished my Teen Titans comics, and am starting my Teen Titans Go! collection. Yeah, kiddie comics, but I still like them.