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Blogger is at it again. I'm having the same problems that kept this blog at limited functionality for about three months. This time, I'm not going to stick around and wait it out. So, update your bookmarks:

http://blurredline.blogspot.com

The flash piece was rejected for the second time today. It was also the least positive rejection I've received, although the editor did encourage me to send other works, so I'll take solace in that.

I've been spending a lot of time lately obsessing over Clarion, if only because registration for summer classes here in Ottawa is coming up in a matter of days and I'm in the process of getting another student loan for next year (most of which, if I got into Clarion, would go towards paying for that). Plus, I sent in my application on Feb. 2nd and their website had quoted an eight week response time, meaning that it could be arriving at any minute.

Anyhow, this obsession sent me towards Liz Zernechel's blog. She happens to be the Director of this year's workshop, meaning that she's the one processing all the applications. Anyhow, from a quick perusal of her blog, I picked up two important pieces of info (for the record, when I talk about Clarion here, I'm referring exclusively to Clarion East): 1 - This year's Clarion has received more applications than any other Clarion in the last ten years. Fantastic for them. Not so fantastic for me. 2 - Due to the number of applications, the eight week response time isn't one hundred percent accurate. Looks like I should still get a response by the 15th of April, though, which isn't bad at all.

Keep your fingers crossed for me, people.

Take two. This is what I'm thinking as I sit down on the bench. The park is busy now. All dogs and baby strollers.

I have rested the length of my arm along the top of the bench. This ensures that no one will sit down beside me, because it would be too intimate a situation. They would feel as if my arm was about to fall down around them, my hand clasping their shoulder, a smile on my face. I have noticed this. People are afraid of unwarranted friendliness. It's how you point out a person who's not quite right.

I have done this because I don't feel like talking. I feel like communing with some great, all-knowing spirit. I feel like peeling away the layers of my self to reach some kind of true understanding. Mostly, I am thinking about Helena's body. This is unavoidable, I know. Part of being this mammal that I am. Still, I'm aggravated. I would like to be spiritual, to think about something for the betterment of my mind.

It does not come. Instead, my mind is filled with nipples and the bump of the pubic bone at the hip.

Eventually, I make some kind of vague pact with the golden leaves, pinecones and blades of grass. This pact has no real words, but I am thinking, I am willing into effect a sort of mutual understanding. If it is broken, I will spray pesticides all over the park (not part of the pact - this thought comes unbidden from the back of my mind). Still, it's out there now. In my head, I'm apologizing. Sorry, leaves. Sorry, pinecones. Sorry, grass. I won't hurt you if you'll just make things alright.

The leaves are unresponsive, content to continue on with their fluttering. This dance of the leaves in the wind, it seems as if it must have been choreographed. Set down, at one point or another, by the Greek gods when they were tired of sex and familial squabbles.

I cross my arms and think to the leaves, Take it or leave it. I am not aware of the pun until after I've thought it. Stupid. No one would take that seriously. The leaves: Oh, I think we'll leave it.

I decide that nature is a lost cause. So much for communing. I throw my burger carton/day-planner onto the ground. Take that, bitch. I don't say this out loud. Actually, I don't even really think it. I'm just thinking that this is what I'd say if I were a character in a movie.

So, last night I was pulled over by the cops for the first time. I wasn't doing anything reckless, unless driving with one headlight in a well-lit area is what passes for daredevilish activity these days. Anyway, the end result of the encounter was that I was given a $110 ticket with the condition that if I had the bulb replaced within 72 hours, I could have the ticket cancelled.

Of course, that ticket is exactly $110 more than I have at the moment, so I had the light changed and went down to the police station to have them cancel the ticket. I walk in and before I even begin to explain my situation, before any words are exchanged, the desk cop takes the ticket from me and goes into the back. He returns with the ticket's file, stamps "Cancelled" on both of them and tells me to have a good day. Didn't even bother with any proof that I'd actually had my light changed. In fact, I'm not sure he even bothered to look at the ticket.

Next time I get a ticket, I'm definitely going down to the police station to see if they'll rubber stamp it just like that. While I'm at it, maybe I'll try passing my Visa bill across that desk. Now that's a piece of paper I could use one of those stamps on.

The essay from hell was turned in last night, so now I'm preparing for a few days of relative inactivity (relative being the operative word here). Actually, I came home last night to a number of emergency workers outside my door and thought that something terrible had happened, like my cat had managed to dial 911 with his last dying breath. Turns out the paramedics had to be called in for my neighbour across the hall. I wasn't able to glean any information beyond her being alright, but it was an odd sight to come home to.

For writers: I've come across a massively useful market listing that's much like Ralan, except that it caters to all genres, not just spec fic. It's also searchable, has response time logs, a nice interface and they have a submission tracking system that's in beta testing right now. It's called Duotrope Digest - be sure to check it out and sign up. Also, thanks to whoever listed Goodbye, Darwin there. Speaking of the anthology, I've been receiving a large number of submissions lately, so hopefully we'll get close to finishing it soon.

More SF news: Still coping with the death of Octavia Butler (who, by the way, is having a large Clarion scholarship set up for writers of colour in her honour), the SF community has lost another of its great writers, Stanislaw Lem. I've never read any of his work, but I do have a copy of Solaris on my shelf that I plan to read this summer.

Also, the FHM "Sexiest Woman" issue just came out. Now, between this and the People "Sexiest Man Alive" thing, I'm not quite sure I get the point of the ranking of a lot disturbingly attractive people in an order that, as it pertains to actual attractiveness, is entirely arbitrary. Or, maybe I'm just bitter that Jessica Alba didn't win. For the record, the winner was Scarlett Johansson (which, I'm sure, more to do with this dress than anything else). Not that I'm complaining because, well, you know.

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Profile Writer. Student. Lord of the Dance. Blurredline.com Movie Reviews cterrill(at)blurredline.com Buy Blurred Line Amazon.com Amazon.ca Barnes&Noble.com Booksamillion.com Read it free in PDF Format Blog Exchange Experiment Results Quality Blogs Making Light The Presurfer Scalzi's Whatever Scalzi's By The Way POD-dy Mouth William Gibson Ali's QuixotiQ Writings Dave's Blogography White Screen of Despair Quantum Miss Snark Jack Slyde All Kinds of Writing Aggressive Fiction Architect by Day, Writer by Night Stalkers Not Allowed The Y Logs Totally Unauthorized Bookslut Benjamin Solah Ramblings from the Desert SF Signal Writer Unboxed the0phrastus Archives March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 Et Cetera Feeds Atom Feed	Sunday, April 02, 2006 - Test Test Cavan blogged at 10:20 PM \| 0 comments Saturday, April 01, 2006 - Test More Test Cavan blogged at 10:29 PM \| 0 comments - Test Test Cavan blogged at 8:19 PM \| 0 comments - Bad News Blogger is at it again. I'm having the same problems that kept this blog at limited functionality for about three months. This time, I'm not going to stick around and wait it out. So, update your bookmarks: http://blurredline.blogspot.com Cavan blogged at 5:02 PM \| 1 comments Friday, March 31, 2006 - Rejection (And Maybe One More) The flash piece was rejected for the second time today. It was also the least positive rejection I've received, although the editor did encourage me to send other works, so I'll take solace in that. I've been spending a lot of time lately obsessing over Clarion, if only because registration for summer classes here in Ottawa is coming up in a matter of days and I'm in the process of getting another student loan for next year (most of which, if I got into Clarion, would go towards paying for that). Plus, I sent in my application on Feb. 2nd and their website had quoted an eight week response time, meaning that it could be arriving at any minute. Anyhow, this obsession sent me towards Liz Zernechel's blog. She happens to be the Director of this year's workshop, meaning that she's the one processing all the applications. Anyhow, from a quick perusal of her blog, I picked up two important pieces of info (for the record, when I talk about Clarion here, I'm referring exclusively to Clarion East): 1 - This year's Clarion has received more applications than any other Clarion in the last ten years. Fantastic for them. Not so fantastic for me. 2 - Due to the number of applications, the eight week response time isn't one hundred percent accurate. Looks like I should still get a response by the 15th of April, though, which isn't bad at all. Keep your fingers crossed for me, people. Cavan blogged at 10:34 PM \| 1 comments Thursday, March 30, 2006 - Glimpse: Communing With Nature Take two. This is what I'm thinking as I sit down on the bench. The park is busy now. All dogs and baby strollers. I have rested the length of my arm along the top of the bench. This ensures that no one will sit down beside me, because it would be too intimate a situation. They would feel as if my arm was about to fall down around them, my hand clasping their shoulder, a smile on my face. I have noticed this. People are afraid of unwarranted friendliness. It's how you point out a person who's not quite right. I have done this because I don't feel like talking. I feel like communing with some great, all-knowing spirit. I feel like peeling away the layers of my self to reach some kind of true understanding. Mostly, I am thinking about Helena's body. This is unavoidable, I know. Part of being this mammal that I am. Still, I'm aggravated. I would like to be spiritual, to think about something for the betterment of my mind. It does not come. Instead, my mind is filled with nipples and the bump of the pubic bone at the hip. Eventually, I make some kind of vague pact with the golden leaves, pinecones and blades of grass. This pact has no real words, but I am thinking, I am willing into effect a sort of mutual understanding. If it is broken, I will spray pesticides all over the park (not part of the pact - this thought comes unbidden from the back of my mind). Still, it's out there now. In my head, I'm apologizing. Sorry, leaves. Sorry, pinecones. Sorry, grass. I won't hurt you if you'll just make things alright. The leaves are unresponsive, content to continue on with their fluttering. This dance of the leaves in the wind, it seems as if it must have been choreographed. Set down, at one point or another, by the Greek gods when they were tired of sex and familial squabbles. I cross my arms and think to the leaves, Take it or leave it. I am not aware of the pun until after I've thought it. Stupid. No one would take that seriously. The leaves: Oh, I think we'll leave it. I decide that nature is a lost cause. So much for communing. I throw my burger carton/day-planner onto the ground. Take that, bitch. I don't say this out loud. Actually, I don't even really think it. I'm just thinking that this is what I'd say if I were a character in a movie. Cavan blogged at 11:34 AM \| 1 comments Wednesday, March 29, 2006 - Ticket So, last night I was pulled over by the cops for the first time. I wasn't doing anything reckless, unless driving with one headlight in a well-lit area is what passes for daredevilish activity these days. Anyway, the end result of the encounter was that I was given a $110 ticket with the condition that if I had the bulb replaced within 72 hours, I could have the ticket cancelled. Of course, that ticket is exactly $110 more than I have at the moment, so I had the light changed and went down to the police station to have them cancel the ticket. I walk in and before I even begin to explain my situation, before any words are exchanged, the desk cop takes the ticket from me and goes into the back. He returns with the ticket's file, stamps "Cancelled" on both of them and tells me to have a good day. Didn't even bother with any proof that I'd actually had my light changed. In fact, I'm not sure he even bothered to look at the ticket. Next time I get a ticket, I'm definitely going down to the police station to see if they'll rubber stamp it just like that. While I'm at it, maybe I'll try passing my Visa bill across that desk. Now that's a piece of paper I could use one of those stamps on. Cavan blogged at 11:57 PM \| 2 comments Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - I'm Back! The essay from hell was turned in last night, so now I'm preparing for a few days of relative inactivity (relative being the operative word here). Actually, I came home last night to a number of emergency workers outside my door and thought that something terrible had happened, like my cat had managed to dial 911 with his last dying breath. Turns out the paramedics had to be called in for my neighbour across the hall. I wasn't able to glean any information beyond her being alright, but it was an odd sight to come home to. For writers: I've come across a massively useful market listing that's much like Ralan, except that it caters to all genres, not just spec fic. It's also searchable, has response time logs, a nice interface and they have a submission tracking system that's in beta testing right now. It's called Duotrope Digest - be sure to check it out and sign up. Also, thanks to whoever listed Goodbye, Darwin there. Speaking of the anthology, I've been receiving a large number of submissions lately, so hopefully we'll get close to finishing it soon. More SF news: Still coping with the death of Octavia Butler (who, by the way, is having a large Clarion scholarship set up for writers of colour in her honour), the SF community has lost another of its great writers, Stanislaw Lem. I've never read any of his work, but I do have a copy of Solaris on my shelf that I plan to read this summer. Also, the FHM "Sexiest Woman" issue just came out. Now, between this and the People "Sexiest Man Alive" thing, I'm not quite sure I get the point of the ranking of a lot disturbingly attractive people in an order that, as it pertains to actual attractiveness, is entirely arbitrary. Or, maybe I'm just bitter that Jessica Alba didn't win. For the record, the winner was Scarlett Johansson (which, I'm sure, more to do with this dress than anything else). Not that I'm complaining because, well, you know. Cavan blogged at 3:51 PM \| 2 comments Sunday, March 26, 2006 - Tax Time Cavan blogged at 12:18 PM \| 2 comments	Progress Mass Romantic Currently: 13k Estimated Total: 30k Cavan Radio Playlist Reading Roxana - Daniel Defoe Contemporary Canadian Poetry - Margaret Atwood and Leonard Cohen Restoration Poetry by James Thomson, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith and Thomas Gray Listening The Darkness - Permission To Land Sam Roberts - We Were Born In A Flame The Vines - Highly Evolved Watching Spider: C+ V for Vendetta: A- Read My Reviews Wishlist Empire of the Senseless - Kathy Acker Brendan Benson - The Alternative To Love Internal Links Under Construction Link Link