Constant Satellite: October 2017

Tuesday, October 31, 2017

I know, yes I know this story has to end

My online class just talked about fanfiction like it's a real thing. Apparently it's a pretty big social media tactic that works great for brands and they don't even have to ask people to do it; if it's a good enough product, fancreators will do stuff FOR FREE and it grows the brand. (The example the professor gave was for Game of Thrones; he linked us to a story that's "17 chapters and still going!!" wow......)

So I guess it's a real thing now.

So I guess I'll link you to my most recent project, because I read it the other day and thought "This isn't terrible." That's my new standard. I wrote like 4,000 words in like a week and then stalled on the second half for three months but it's done. Also my new standard. Done.

For some reason (the show's been over for 3 years) this summer I started a story based on Kissing in the Rain, which is a short webseries about actors playing opposite each other and kissing in the rain on camera, but not on the same page when film isn't rolling. I really like it, and it really made strides in the whole fancreator business by soliciting writings about each episode as it came out, and if the creator liked it, it became canon. It really increased viewer engagement and built the brand...3 years ago.

My story's actually an AU, though. An Alternate Universe. What if...James and Lily only acted together two times because Lily decided to focus on a music career? What if...WHAT IF THEY HAD TO FAKE DATE FOR PUBLICITY??? and then fell in love for real............

(Don't get confused by their names being James and Lily. They're not really Harry Potter characters.)

Anyway, I believe you can enjoy this story once I've introduced you to the relevant canon. It should only take 10 minutes of your time and then you can read my story (for which I have no good basis of how long it takes to read).

Episode 1: James and Lily

Then, this drabble (written by the creator, so it's legit canon) talking about a publicity coffee date they had to go on: Shipping It

And...
Episode 2: Anne and Gilbert

And that's it! That's all you need to read my story and like it.

So here's my story: sharing biscotti with some brunette hipster (8K words, general audiences). I hope you read it and like it.

Sunday, October 15, 2017

summer move forward

At the end of May, Carly Rae Jepsen had a new single come out, and I was obsessed with it. I listened to it like five times in a row.

And that wasn't the first time that month I'd done something similar with a song. And it's not really my usual modus operandi to get obsessed with a song like that. I should probably put these in a playlist so I don't forget them. So I did. My Summer 2017 playlist was born. And because I think it's interesting, I'm going to talk about my playlist a bit now. link on spotify

1. The Outfield - The Night Game
sometimes i feel like walking up to your front door, but i'm so far away
Discovered this one when scrolling through someone's blog. She touted its summer jam vibez, its "lost recording from the Police" style, and I listened to it. Then...I listened to it a few more times. Then it became the only thing I listened to that day. And then, eventually, it ended up as the first song in my Summer 2017 playlist, because I discovered it first.

I wanted to play it at all the softball games. I sang it to myself when I ended up standing in the outfield during one fateful game. I jammed to the bridge, wondering why you gotta be so hard to get.

2. Cut to the Feeling - Carly Rae Jepsen
cancel your reservations, no more hesitations, this is on
YouTube came through for me here, knowing that I was...listening to a lot of CRJ. I happened upon the video site one day and this was a recommended watch. "A new CRJ? Yes please," I said. And we obviously know I loved it.

I turn this song on when I need a mood lift, when I need to be energized. Maybe dance a little (I've danced to this song in my living room more than once). When I wanna to say to someone "Let's skip to the part where we're in love."

3. Faint of Heart - The Strike
i been waiting forever, waiting on this to start
Hey, shoutout to Facebook sponsored posts! I clicked on one (but only because I already knew that The Strike was pretty cool) to listen to their new album, and this one for sure got me. And it fit in with the other songs on my playlist remarkably well, with its 80's style and yearning lyrics. (which literally can describe all three of these first ones.)

This one joined the playlist right when I felt like I'd been waiting forever, wondering if this was going to go anywhere or if I was going to be too faint of heart.

4. Honey and Milk - Andrew Belle
the moon's right there in front of me, I can see it with my mouth
Spotify's Release Radar alerted me to a new(ish?) song by this artist, whom I have been known to listen to. I can't say I ever got super obsessed with this one, but something about the dark lushness of this song appeals to me.

5. Cold War - Foreign Figures
ask myself what I want more, something lifeless or someone to adore?
So one reason I'm making this post is I found out this week that this is a Provo band. I discovered that because Spotify made me a mix of some REALLY disparate artists: Vocal Point, Paul Cardall, David Archuleta, Rob Gardner, The Strike, Piano Guys...etc. And these guys (and Mindy Gledhill, which is understandable, and Josh Groban, which is not). So I did some googling and discovered that they fit right in!

Anyway. I like the beat on this one. And the violence, even though it's a cold war. I also like the way they sing "overzealous."

6. Asido - Purity Ring
with our palms facing up
Just stalking some guy's twitter and he mentioned the new Purity Ring single. I listened to it and decided that it was weird, and it should still go on my playlist. (I listened to it with the lyrics in front of me just now; what I chose above was literally the only phrase besides the chorus I could previously pick out, but wow is this ever a depressing song.)

7. Cruel Summer - Daniella Mason
poolside, dancing on my own life
I added this one after Labor Day after hearing it on the Release Radar. It's catchy and, I mean, I do have to admit that my summer didn't turn out as I might've dreamt. Not that it was that bad. It just ended...anticlimactically. Whatevs. It was nice to have a song clearly mark the end of summer, so I knew when to stop adding to the playlist.

So that was my summer in seven new songs.

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

the light in me will guide you home

Wow did Cape Disappointment live up to its name!!

I really liked our little excursion out that way but it actually was disappointing in a lot of ways:

As we drove into Washington it started storming. Since most of the day had been hot and sunny, this sudden change was a little disappointing.
We followed Google Maps' directions toward Cape Disappointment and it sent us to a military facility where we were for sure not allowed. A little disappointing.
There was another lighthouse in the same state park or whatever, so we went over that way. We had to pay to park there, even though it was the end of the day and raining so we wouldn't be using the pass any more. Disappointing because we'd really lucked out with not having to pay much thus far, and it felt expensive.
As we walked over to the North Head lighthouse (or whatever it was), in the visibility-reducing fog (disappointing!), we discovered that this lighthouse was under construction and largely obscured by scaffolding. How disappointing!

Here are some pictures of the event.

Trail

Cape

disappointed

Deer!

Rose it makes my heart smile

I love roses. I think they're amazing. I don't have any reason for thinking that, they just are. Beautiful and fragrant and wonderful. When I was a young girl, my mom would sometimes get a rose catalog in the mail. I would hoard it for months, just poring over the different varieties and picking my favorites. Sometimes I would ask my mom if we could plant some, but they were pretty picky about the types of soil that each variety would thrive in, and it didn't always work.

Some do, though. We definitely have some roses in our garden that I remember from the catalog.

Me as a 13-year-old by our rose bushes.

My obsession with roses was such that when we had to come up with a presentation about something in my Plant Breeding class, I remembered the catalog (which I believe came from the International Rose Test Garden, because it showcased the winners and stuff) and presented about breeding roses. It was a terrible assignment, but at least I talked about something that interested me more than corn.

I still love roses even though I don't think about them as often as I used to. On my recent trip to Portland we decided to hit up the International Rose Test Garden (where they test new rose breeds to see how they'll do in real life) and it wasn't until we were on our way there that I remembered that going to this garden was probably a childhood dream of mine. To actually see the place whence the catalog pictures came? How could I not want that?

(PS I paid a dollar to get in to the garden but it was actually free/voluntary donation. An unexpected boon!)

And it was really nice. I took some slightly blurry pictures (I'm an indifferent photographer but my camera is also the worst) that don't quite capture it, but maybe a little.

It was probably my goal to take a picture of the plaque adjacent to a picture of a rose, but then I realized I didn't want to do that so many times. But I did once!