It’s taken me a couple days to get this all down :p I think I might transcribe the dream-entries I’ve put on lj here so I’ll have them all in one place.
Imagine the world recovering from the ravages of zombie apocalypse. The walking dead still exist, but their numbers are small enough that you’re more likely to find them wandering around alone or in pairs. Nobody spends a great deal of time outside anymore, and if they did, they wouldn’t be caught dead without at least a sturdy Lil’ Slugger (ha! or maybe they would).
Throw in an alarm in real-time that wasn’t supposed to go off, and this grim portrait of life-after-Zday morphs into a world where two barbarian kings war against each other, and their sword-wielding race has ancestral memories of an era when mankind ruled the world with machines. Somewhere, someone inadvertently opens a rift into a dimension where Lovecraftian Old One-type creatures dwell, who, of course, take advantage of the opportunity to cross planes and wreak havoc on the world of men. The two kings ally their warriors to defend their world, and somehow this defense involves trying to restart massive machines left behind by their predecesors.
Some time later, while attempting to activate an office-building-sized machine that will deal a coup-de-gras to the creatures, someone (again! you’d think they would’ve learned by now) speaks the name of the other-plane (Zigi-somethingorother), and opening a gargantuan rift right above their heads. And what should emerge, tentacles a-flailing, but the bastard lovechild of Cthulu and a D&D beholder. Battle ensues, and rages on until the creature catches sight of the “main character” (one of the barbarian kings), and focuses its considerable rage on him.
Now, weird setting laid out, the part that really sticks with me even now is what happened next:
In an attempt to draw the creature away from the rest of his people, the barbarian king flees across the sea — in actuality, a vast expanse of water that is only about ankle deep. As he runs, he lifts up off the ground and ascends toward the sky, the creature still in fast persuit. Rising higher and higher, he’s shocked to find that everyone had always thought was the sky, is actually just a thin sheet of blue-white fabric. He cuts through it as he rises, finding a dimly lit layer, above which — about 20-30 storeys up — is another, much thicker, layer of what my dream-brain told me was insulating material. He cuts through this too, only to find another layer about 15-20 feet above his head that consits of a black tarp-like material.
He cuts through this last layer and is nearly blinded by sunlight — real sunlight, much brighter than he’s ever seen before. The barbarian king emerges into the world of his “ancestors,” filled with strangely shaped, semi-futuristic buildings made of blue-black metals and dark glass. Everything looks clean and well-kept, but the world is dead silent, and my sleeping brain realizes two things at once: 1) the barbarians were put in their enclosed “world” to protect them, to keep them alive, and 2) the world is completely and utterly deserted. It looks like mankind has just gotten up in the middle of whatever it was doing, and left. The barbarian continues to fly along, amazed, forgetting for a few minutes that he’s still being persued by Cthulu’s fugly kid brother. It would appear that the oceans are receding, leaving behind a barren expanded shoreline. It took some time to realize what made it so eerie was that there were no waves, and I wonder if that means the oceans in the “real world” are as shallow as the ones where he comes from.
There’s a loud screech from behind him, and the barbarian is jolted back to the present situation. He coasts down along what appears to be some sort of bazaar, landing next to a glass display with various objects that look very old, but wouldn’t be out of place in our day and age. As the creature pounces, having, for some reason suddenly become small enough for the barbarian to catch in his arms, he grabs a pair of black scissors from the display and stabs the flailing creature repeatedly. It makes a gurgling cooing sound and kind of deflates as he attacks it. There’s not really any gore, though the “guts” are not remotely pleasant. And the dream pretty much ends there, kind of half-inside the barbarian king’s thoughts, feeling his relief that his people are safe, and his hope and excitement at the chance to explore this new world.
It was kind of anti-climatic, really. And the part that made the biggest impression on me was the barbarian discovering and cutting through the different layers between his world and the outside, and realizing that they’ve been shut away while the “real world” died. Also, it’s interesting to note that, because of the alarm going off, I can estimate that the second half of this dream sequence lasted about an hour to an hour and a half.
The last two weeks have been absolutely crazy. Apparently everyone in the world decided all at once that they needed to make up for lost time over the holidays, and we’ve been working almost non-stop. I don’t think we’ve been this busy in the year and a half that I’ve been here. I worked both days last weekend, more than making up for the two (unpaid) sick days I took recently, and worked til 10 Wednesday, and 7 last night. I am so ready for this week to just be over. Yay, Friday. I think our machines would probably agree.
I’ve been working on the site whenever I get a chance to sit down long enough. I’m really pleased with the way it’s coming along so far. I’ve been resisting the urge to post a million asides in lieu of actual entries. It’s so easy to just make quick little two or three line notes about interesting stuff I find or hear. I’ve got a few plans in the works, though to encourage myself to update more often.
Love-life has been full for months, and a little turbulent more recently. I can only hope it continues to settle. Life in general has been good though. Money is still a little crazy sometimes, but things finally seem to be evening out. I have no idea how taxes are going to end up this year. I’m crossing my fingers, but not holding out any great hope. I’ll probably up my witholdings this year to be on the safe side. Been getting out of the house a little more than I’ve been used to lately. Trying to find a happy medium between hanging out with people, and getting my “me” time so I don’t go nuts. (Heh, is there an opposite of “stir crazy,” where you feel like you don’t get to do nothing enough?) Even having Eddy playing video games, needing no entertainment from me whatsoever, is distracting. It’s funny to notice, though, that working out code for this place drowns out almost all outside influences though. If I could just make that happen with drawing or writing, I’d be golden :D
Speaking of drawing, I got a late Christmas present from the Hippie. He got me a Wacom Bamboo Fun, one of the line of tablets that’s replacing the Graphires. I haven’t gotten a chance to really just spend an evening messing with it, but as soon as I do, I’ll be posting about it. It’ll be so nice to have a working tablet again. And the best part? It’s Tachikoma-blue! XD See for yourself!
This weekend seemed unusually long. Spent a good portion of it with Lankylad. Saw the new Harry Potter flick for the second time (his first) on Friday. I’d have to say that, like the books, they’re getting better with each one. I think one of my favorite single parts of this particular movie was Gary Oldman. I have yet to see a movie with him that I don’t like. His performances are always riveting, and he does make such a pretty Sirius Black.
Had a minor freakout Saturday night when I had trouble getting ahold of the roomate to put together final rent/utilities. Turned out I was stressing for no reason as, apparently, the leasing office is “open” (by appointment) til 4pm on Sundays, rather than til 12 or 1 as I’d thought. So our last rent payment has been made. The knowledge that I’m moving out of the place I’ve lived for almost 2 years still feels strange. I would’ve liked to stay there, but they’ve apparently decided to jack their prices up since I had my old one bedroom, and weren’t as willing to keep me there as I was to stay.
The great packing adventure has finally begun. Saturday night found Lankylad at me at my place packing up books. I’m sad to say it took much less time than I expected, but I suppose that happens when you actually have help. Cleared most of the junk off my desk and deskside-bookshelf too, and boxed up the stuff I wanted to keep, and yesterday Prometheus and I did laundry for the first time in ages. I started going through everything to sort out what’s going to goodwill, what’s getting packed away for winter, and what’s just getting tossed. I have more clothes than I’d thought, though a sizable portion are years old and way too small now, or stuff I just don’t wear on a regular basis. And even after sorting everything out, I’ll probably end up with two big bins of stuff. Ah well, it’s still less junk than before, and that’s kinda what I’m going for. All the book boxes are in my car waiting for my to drop them at the new place after work, so I suppose I can say the moving part of the move is actually beginning (finally).
Been a little while. Things are still going well. The new place is coming along nicely. Lankylad and I painted the living room/dining area last weekend, and it looks great. I haven’t actually started moving in yet. Been trying to clear out a bit of a bug problem that apparently came with the territory. They supposedly sprayed a couple weeks ago, and I’ve put out bait, but (lovely little bug carcasses notwithstanding) they seem reluctant to let up. I need to pick up some caulk and a little plastic sheeting to seal up a couple holes under the kitchen sink to reduce their points of access.
Packing hasn’t exactly begun in earnest, but it’s getting started. I’ve managed to purge a bunch of junk and consolidate three plastic storage bins into one. I’ll probably be packing books and going through clothes tonight to sort out winter stuff and things I don’t want, or that don’t fit anymore. That should hopefully clear up a ton of space by itself.
Lankylad gave me a fantastic idea for something to do with the dining area. See, the thing is, I’ve never really eaten in a dining room since I left home. It’s more efficient to eat at my desk, or sitting on the couch, or wherever I happen to be working. I don’t even own a dining table or chairs. So I don’t particularly have use for the dining area in the new place.
But.
It’s been suggested that I could turn it into a book nook or “study,” and I’ve kinda taken the idea and run with it. Sometime next month probably, I’ll be buying some lumber and some nice looking brackets to build wall-to-wall (or nearly) shelves for my books. It’s unlikely that I’ll be able to fill them with what I have, but then it’s just potential book-space :D When I can afford it, I’m gonna see if I can find a comfy old loveseat for sale somewhere to put in the corner, and maybe a papasan or two, or some other manner of comfortable seating. And I’ll find a low table at some point, or just use the coffee table I have now (that’s currently serving as bedside table/altar) for the times when I actually DO want to eat there. Dining surrounded by books? How decadent!
And speaking of books, I picked up/read the final installment of the Harry Potter epic. I’m pretty sure it’s my favorite in the series. It ties up a LOT of loose ends and mysteries, and that always has a nice feel to it, though I didn’t particularly like the type of ending Ms. Rowling decided to use. Seemed kind of tacked-on to me. No spoilers from me, really, but lemme just say, Hermione ftw, like all through the book. Hell, the series! Harry and Ron would’ve been dogmeat long ago (in some cases, literally) if it weren’t for her. But yeah, that’s my two cents on that subject. Started reading The Golden Compass. I wanted to read it before I saw the movie. And I’m building a queue of books to read. The stack just keeps growing, and I may never escape! I really need to get the hang of this reading-multiple-books-at-a-time thing. Then again, I <3 good stories, so no big :)
Work has been a little hectic this week. Monday through Wednesday, I was the only one in my “department” (in quotes because we have a grand total of nine people that work here, but we each have specialized positions). The other girl I work with has been out taking care of her daughter, who’s got some sort of stomach thing. Yick! And yesterday, our owner, our production manager, and our graphic design guy left for a convention in Las Vegas, and won’t be back til Monday. So I get to fill in with graphic design stuff, as well as working my department, alone.
Yeah. Fun.
At least it’s been relatively quiet yesterday and today. Tuesday I wanted to strangle people. Hopefully the other girl will be back tomorrow, and save me at least a little bit of headache :p But anyway, after work I’m off to Lankylad’s place for a fun-filled evening of avoiding my own packing by helping him with his unpacking (having just moved, himself) :)
This is the floorplan of my new place:
The raised dining area is a little weird, but I’ll make due ;) I really like the layout though; it’s nice and open. Though I suppose you’re gonna get that with 900 square feet and only one bedroom :)
