hmpf

I've been very nearly completely offline for... weeks (pretty much since I made my last post here, exactly), and only partly online again for... a week or so. My laptop died. Completely. Not even the "power on" diode is working anymore. My ancient desktop, after a three-day period of trying and failing again and again, turned out to be incompatible with Linux (which I tried to put on it so as to have at least *some* sort of working computer again with which to go online and look for computer advice as well as start shopping for a new laptop). I'm now on a borrowed eight-year-old laptop (which was also broken/heavily infected with something, and which has an extraordinarily crappy keyboard), on which I installed Linux and which is therefore, now, somewhat safe to use for going online again. I've also finally ordered a new laptop, which should be delivered sometime this week. Pheew.

The novel is now at 1,500 words, roughly, btw. Have been somewhat stuck/blocked for a while though, mainly because I have some trouble developing the setting in my mind - seems like I can't really write unless I can imagine the world my protagonists live in. I've started borrowing lots of geography books from the local library; maybe that will help.

I've finally started reading comics again! I sort of fell off that particular wagon a year or two ago, mainly because I switched to reading more novels again. I've started reading Saga now (which had been brought to my attention a couple of times before, but I wasn't in comic buying mode then, so it never stuck). It's good, but not as weird as I feel I'd been promised. I think reading Finder and Donna Barr's stuff and assorted Manga has forever ruined me for finding any comic coming out of the mainstream weird. The world also doesn't feel quite as fully realised to me yet as reviews had led me to expect. Again, I'm probably spoiled by Finder. Still, it's promising - and it's definitely a flavour that you don't get much in comics, so I'll support it for that, too. Mind you, I only have the first volume, so far.

Prince Robot is totally modelled on The One Electronic, though.

One thing that's kind of interesting is that what Saga tries to do - telling a love story about an established relationship, against a background of large-scale conflict - is *sort of* what I'm trying to do in my novel. Huh.

As for weirder comics: Finder: Third World, the story that was serialised in Dark Horse Presents, is finally getting a trade paperback release in August. This is making me very, very, very, very happy.

Also, it seems there will be a Hellblazer, pardon, Constantine (pronounced wrong, though, ugh) tv show? Not sure how I feel about that, but it's reminded me of the fact that my Hellblazer collection is sadly incomplete. Turns out that now they're finally collecting the whole shebang from the beginning and without gaps. Well, hooray. Only I've already bought about a third of the entire run in various other forms. I doubt the new collections will neatly fill the gaps in my stack of issues and trades, so I suppose I'll end up with lots of spares. Meh.

I also still haven't read the actual ending of the actual comic (stopped reading for money reasons, a while before it ended). Was it okay? Or is it better to just... not read it, ever?

Aaaand speaking of London magicians, I also recently read Rivers of London and enjoyed it quite a lot. What I didn't enjoy quite as much were some of the spoilers I read online about Lesley's future. Fingers crossed that those were misinterpretations or something. Now waiting for the second volume to be delivered... which should have arrived last week already, so I'm getting antsy.

Right, well, gotta get off this thing now as it's getting late and I have to get up early tomorrow...

Okay, sorry, but I'm angry. Incredibly angry.

I mostly use my laptop as my everyday computer these days, but I do still have a desktop computer, too. With that desktop computer comes a monitor. I mostly use the desktop and the monitor for watching stuff with guests when I have someone staying over. It's a good monitor for that. It's either four or six years old; I think six, but I'm not sure. I know that's old in the brave new world of electronics, but... fuck.

I just tried to move it aside a bit - and people who know me know that I'm not someone who handles computer components without care - AND ALL OF A SUDDEN, THE MONITOR CAME LOOSE FROM ITS STAND. So there I stood, with a fairly heavy monitor in my hands - it was on, mind you! - trying to find a way to shut down the computer while still holding the monitor upright. I finally managed, and unplugged the cables, and took a closer look at the stand and the monitor itself. Turns out that some small metal (or plastic?) piece that apparently holds the entire weight of the monitor had broken off.

So now I have a fully functional monitor, but I can't use it anymore because I can't put it on its stand anymore because that stupid. piece. of metal/plastic. broke off.

How did it even break? I'm not the Hulk, I didn't throw the monitor around or do anything else with it that could conceivably have caused damage like that. It just came off in my hands, without any sense of force/resistance. HOW???

I don't really want to have to buy a new monitor for an utterly stupid reason like this.

But I'm not very optimistic about finding replacement parts.

... and ready to dig myself out from under this mountain of guilt etc.

Unfortunately, my laptop just died. *Before* I could transfer three months worth of data back from it to my main computer, of course. That includes all my unanswered mail of the last three months, a significant source of guilt.

*sigh*

I managed to break

- both my browsers
- my e-mail program, and
- my phone,

all in the space of less than 48 hours?

Well, I did. Frell.

In fact, I think I broke my computer. Complete re-install, here I come...

Unfortunately that means losing my Life on Mars vid, as the stupid project file is dependent on everything being in exactly the same location after the re-install, which is going to be impossible as I'm certainly not going to install anything important on the defective hard drive anymore. *sigh*

It also means my catching-up with LJ is stalled, for now.

In other news, there's pretty constant temperature of 32 degrees Celsius in my flat, which sometimes rises to 35 degrees, and never falls below 31. Sleeping is nearly impossible, even though I've moved my mattress to the floor. Also, I've developed weird fits of dizziness due to the heat, probably a sign of my advanced age (ha, ha) as I never used to have problems with high temperatures until this year.

Also, insane amounts of uni work ahead, arrgh.

There was something else I meant to post, but I can't remember now. Too hot. And by the time I remember, my browser will probably have crashed again.

Don't worry if you don't see me around for a while. It's probably just computer troubles, and not a heat-induced heart attack. ;-)