I've just re-read Emma Thompson's Sense and Sensibility production diaries.

Home at 3:30 a.m. in a taxi, arseholed. I stumbled into my bedroom where Harriet Walter (who'd come down specially and was sharing my room) was already asleep. She sat bolt upright.
'Help me!' I wailed.
'Oh, God,' she said. 'Why don't you try throwing up?'
A good line in that cut-glass accent, I thought, even as I threw myself at the loo bowl.

I'm bored and tired and sniffly. Home from work again, which makes me very happy and my boss very pissed--but then again, it's his fault that I'm the only person left working in the office who knows what needs to get done. Yep. I'm giving my notice on Monday.

~Anne

I have written and re-written various rants against Asshole Company (who sold us a partially functioning database and are pretty shitty at customer service). But I'm trying this thing (have been trying this thing for awhile now, really) where I remember the positive stuff and not the negative (although it does need to be remembered for purposes of learning from mistakes).

( instead: cupcakes! )

MTV EUROPE MUSIC AWARDS 2009 !!



Last Thursday, the MTV Europe Music Awards were held in Berlin...and they made headlines with some of the stunning fashion choices and amazing outfits worn by the stars who were appearing on stage and in the Awards Ceremony itself, either as a recipient or a giver...or, indeed, as a host too...Katy Perry managed a quite extraordinary twelve outfit changes, and Beyoncé gave us a few things to think about too !!

Do come and see what everyone was wearing, and whether they fell foul of my lovely shiny silver Fashion Police handcuffs, or gained one of my super-duper Gold Stars, especially all polished up for the occasion !!

( Come and see... )

So after getting behind by not writing anything last week during the week, I caught up over Saturday and Sunday and am back on track (actually a tiiiiiny bit ahead).

I had a brief moment of "omg what the hell is happening in this story I have no idea what comes next" but I *think* I'm over that. I'm still trying to write chronologically (which also happens to be story order) and so far the pacing seems okay, although I guess we'll find out when I hit the end of the story and it's not yet 50k.

I think this is the best position I've ever been in at this time of the month. And nudaydreamer and I made a pact that if we're both over halfway through at the halfway mark, we can go shoe shopping. I'm kind of excited about that.

Oof. Thank goodness that's over. I'm going to the music library today and making copies of some things I've been dying to learn. Yayyyy!

( I wore a red dress and it was awesome! )

So there you go. I'm done, and I'm taking all of that music out of my binder right now to make room for new things. Ahhh.

~Anne

They tell me,
In sweet fragrant meadows
Of dawn and dew...

Recital in two hours. Ahhhhhhh.

Although I did just figure out how to put eyeliner on my lower lid, which is really exciting and it makes me look glamorous like whoa. Yay!

Ahhhhh, nervous.

~Anne

KERZNER MAZAGAN BEACH RESORT LAUNCH PARTY !!



Roses are the new black...

Remember this group of posts :-

http://wendylady2.livejournal.com/36269.html

http://wendylady2.livejournal.com/36571.html

This was all about the opening of the beautiful new Atlantis Hotel Resort in Dubai...
Well, the owner of that resort - billionaire tycoon, Sol Kerzner - has opened a second hotel resort in El Jadida in Morocco, just about 55 miles southwest of Casablanca...and at the weekend, he threw another almighty bash to celebrate its opening, with a guest list of around 1500, about half of whom were A-lister celebrities !!

So, of course, there were a good deal of beautiful, and some not quite so beautiful dresses being shown off, and of course, I kindly paid a visit on your behalf just to see what I could see...how thoughtful !!

( Come and see who wore what... )

zarhooie and I have a suggestion. (Spoilers, maybe? IDK. We have both watched the most recent ep.)

( suggestion )

Things I've researched since late Saturday night: ovarian and breast cancer types and treatments (major source: my mother the biochemist); ultimate frisbee (major source: the internet, with an assist from a friend from college); lactose intolerance and breaking down lactose (major source: ... my mother, the biochemist).

Words I've written: 8,227 (WHAT. Okay, 445 from midnight to 1 am or so, then I think over 3,000 in word races with nudaydreamer, the spirit of competition makes me focus like nothing else. Then some more after she left to see a play, and then over 2,000 tonight after dinner. Am I bragging? I think I'm probably bragging, but this is the best a story has ever gone at this point in time.)

Scenes I've skipped: 1.5. Pretty good! I skipped some during the word races but went back and filled them all in yesterday. Today I skipped around a bunch and went back and filled some in. I think I know what goes in the 1.5 missing scenes, I just have to put it on paper, but it's pretty generic. I'm not *sure* yet. If I were sure, I would have written a lot faster and kept going until I finished.

Playlist decreased to 5.1 hours.

13th ANNUAL HOLLYWOOD AWARDS GALA !!



This was held at the Beverley Hilton Hotel in L.A. last Monday evening, and featured quite a few stars walking the red carpet in their finery...
I have to say that there seem to be so many Awards ceremonies these days, held by almost every magazine, TV Station, radio station, film association, and a myriad other bodies of people, that it seems to be impossible to keep up with them all. What it's like to be a big star in Hollywood these days, us mere mortals can only guess at - if you're a big star, it's expected that you'II attend most of these events, and so you have to have a really wonderful dress for each and every one of them - therefore, it's probably an easy decision to enrol the help of a stylist, but they very often come complete with their own personal tastes and agendas, so it's no wonder really that awful mistakes get made...

However, we will start with the Best Dresses list, because there were some really nice LBDs at this event. In fact, it's very true to say that almost all the dresses being worn that evening were black, which was just a tad boring - I mean, how utterly safe is that ?!! I do prefer a little variety, even if it is the one dress I really hate...

( Come and see who wore what ... )

Well, there goes my last grad school application. Now all I have to do is send out some supplemental stuff--pre-screenings, performance programs, transcripts and the like--and then wait. Eek!

Lalalala. I am so ready to go. I love Rice. I hope they like me.

~Anne

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Researchers find way to protect healthy cells from radiation damage in cancer treatment

Best hat pattern in the entire history of hat patterns? I think so. (Ravelry link; I think you have to be logged in to access the page.)

intro_to_cs: I'm so, so tempted to check this out, but I can't manage doing it while I'm doing NaNoWriMo. Maybe if they start up another run in January or something, I'll try it.

[Speaking of: Down to about 5.5 hours of playlist now, about half organized into character sub-lists. Might get cut further as I write. Also this morning in the shower I had a major brainstorm about what the first scenes should be, so I'm all ready to dive in and am only debating whether to stay up late and get started now or to wait until tomorrow.]

Dear Rice University:

If I'm applying for my masters degree in vocal performance, isn't it pretty clear what my intended plan of study is? To quote Don Draper--what do you want me to say?

But I will get this application done today, possibly in the next hour, despite the fact that Norris is now entirely wireless. When did that happen? I feel old.

Thanks,
Anne

I'm gonna clear my head,
I'm gonna drink that sun.
I'm gonna love you good and strong
While our love is good and young.

Q AWARDS 2009 !!...



Well, the Q Awards took place in the grand surroundings of London's fancy Grosvenor House Hotel, in Park Lane, Mayfair last Monday evening...
For those who don't know, 'Q' is a music magazine, started back in 1986, and aimed at those slightly older than teenager-types, who were buying the brand new CD format...it was originally named 'Cue', as in cueing up a record ready to play, but then they changed the name to just the letter 'Q', as it was thought to be confusing, and could be construed as a snooker magazine !!
Somewhat unlikely in my view, seeing as how it's plastered with photos of Lily Allen, Lady Ga-ga, Muse, the Killers etc, etc...
Still, there is always going to be at least one klutz who doesn't get it, I guess !!

The Awards have become a well-respected part of the British music calendar, just like the MTV Awards, and therefore really ought to be glanced at, at least, for the entertainment value of its fashion mistakes...

( So let's start with the good stuff, shall we... )