CMS, servers, internet and my mac...

Mood: laaaazy...
Feeling like: going to the movies.

I've been caught up in a freaky twist of fate... all of a sudden, everything that was wrong-- or, rather, f*cked up with my life, started to get better. My Mac (which I don't think I've mentioned-showed off in here) was broken, and so was my cell phone; I had no job, I had no money, my life was a flatline... But then, one of my neighbors turned out to work fixing all kinds of computers, even the tricky and special Macintosh and he's about to finish repairing my Mac; my cell phone has been fixed; I have a new and awesome job; and... well, there's something more that has made me very happy, but I'll talk about it next time (if there are any more posts in the futuree of this blog...).

Having started with that random intro that's supposed to explain why I have done absolutely NOTHING online lately, let's talk about the real topic of this post (although I've already mentioned that my Mac is the main reason why I haven't been online. I've got no Mac-- oh, my gorgeous Powerbook G4--, I've got no Internet, ergo, I'm stranded)

Right now, I'm getting ready for a new stage of my self-education: I'm downloading portable servers to screw joomla and drupal up, over and over until I learn how to use them... I'll let you know the conclusions I reach, but the servers I'll try are server2go, wos, xaamp. I hope at least one of them will work without giving me a headache (considering that I'm practiacally a newbie when it comes to php and mysql).

Oh well... I'm off...

Projects update!

Mood: indifferent.
Feeling like: staring at the ceiling in silence for a few hours.

As requested by some of my friends and/or acquaintances (and that little voice inside my head), here’s an update on my fan fictions, websites and other projects. As usual, feedback is appreciated—in the form of suggestions, words of encouragement or (playful and innocent) threats ;)
An Arnold Thing To Do – Oh, my beloved story… First and foremost, I do have all the intention of completing it, so fear not, my faithful readers.
When I posted the last chapter (the tenth) I talked to my beta, Hellerick Ferlibay, who said that the story looked like it was in a very “writer’s blocky position” and that he had no clue as to what should happen now. I told him not to worry because I did know what to do with it and where I wanted to go, in spite of my “partial block” (I knew what to say, but not really how to say it).
Once again, however, life got in the way. School, work and some other stuff distracted me from the story and when I tried to take it where I’d left off, it just didn’t work—it just doesn’t work. And now, months after chapter 10, the way I think, feel or maybe even write has changed—and I’m starting to have what I’d call (and my sister, Karla, would probably agree) dangerous ideas: should I rewrite the whole thing? I really think I shouldn’t, because I may lose some readers’ interest, but a part of me feels that it would be the best thing to do because I would do it better this time.
I’m quickly discarding this possibility, though. Besides the losing readers thing, there are other stories that I really want to work on (HA! and non-HA!) and if I rewrite AATTD, I may not have the time to work on them. I guess, for now, I’ll keep trying to stick to this version of my story and keep you posted on any decision I make on this.
The Spanish version will have to wait ‘till I’ve either made up my mind or finished the English version.
Harry Potter and the Quest – What can I say? This one I do want to rewrite it. I wouldn’t change too much, though… basically just the style. And I don’t know when will I do it. What I do know, though, is that my ideas will stay the same, despite the fact that Deathly Hallows is out and the series are over. It’ll be some sort of AU story, if you will.
The FH series – My original fiction… I have been thinking a lot about it. I wanted to finish Fort Halliday: Killing Faith before 2007 was over, but then I had a massive attack of potentially good ideas that I have to arrange so that they make sense, so now I think it’ll take me a while to finish the first novel—and it most likely won’t be KF. There’ll be a novel or two before that one, me thinks.
ProyectoPrIn – The pottermania is in a bit of a pause right now, as the last book came out months ago and the sixth movie is not too close to its release. However, I feel terrible because I haven’t been able to give this site the attention it deserves. I am developing some pretty cool ideas for new sections, but I think it’ll be a while before I can launch any of them. Actually, our anniversary just went by and I still haven’t launched the contests and stuff I had planned to celebrate it… *sigh* All I can do right now is hope time will be kind to me and this site.
Lyrics of Arnold – The home of the muspisodes just hasn’t been the same since the big dropout last year. Half of the staff quit without so much as a good-bye and then a couple more members found themselves unable to continue with the project due to… the usual enemies of internet and leisure: school and work.
This site, though, is still on my mind and heart and I plan to make some changes to it; probably by July or August. Also, I’m working on a few transcripts and stuff for it and they should all be up sometime next month.
Musicphilia – This is something that’s been bugging me since the last few days of last year. Two big projects that I’d love to do but can’t find any time for them and, in all honesty, I wouldn’t want to commit to something I know I’ll end up dropping sooner or later. I won’t say a lot about them for now, but one of them I’d do it by myself and maybe with a little help from contributors and friends; while the other, I’d need loads of help from loads of people. I’ve thought about a few guys and girls who would may be interested in contributing, but I gotta talk to them and decide if I want to do launch the project (if you like music and would be interested in helping, leave a comment).
The School Blog – This is another thing I’ve planned for a long time. The reason why I haven’t launched this is because I’m not sure my dear friends at school will be kind enough to post entries at a regular rate. I think this may be fun, but we’ll see…
Getting a boyfriend – lol! No, really, I think it’s about time I admit it to the world: I need a boyfriend. But I seem to have no time for all those things I’ve mentioned before, let alone socialize, so... :P

As you probably realized by now, I have a ton of things to do, but I really think I can organize my schedule and dedicate some time to all of them… Oh well, only time will tell—see? It’s all about time!
I’m off…

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Now playing: Breaking Benjamin - Follow
via FoxyTunes

Harry Potter and the Deathly Decisions

Mood: frustrated.
Feeling like: making a few people at WB "disappear".

To be quite honest, and despite the fact that I found out two days ago, I still feel too frustrated to talk about it, but I just gotta try to vent…
It’s a well-known fact (by the people who know of my slight – ahem—obsession with Harry Potter) that I am not crazy about the movies because, like I’ve said a number of times, they leave out waaaay too much. They’re not, in my opinion, faithful enough to the books.
Also, the fact that I truly disliked the 5th movie is not a secret at all. Being The Order of the Phoenix one of my favorite books, I was very upset to see what they’d turned it into.
Now, I don’t have any doubts that Mr. David Yates must be very talented as a director—but if the people over at WB think that he is the right guy to lead a franchise as big and successful as HP, I beg to differ.
It turns out that, despite what he did to OotP (he destroyed a wonderful story), they want him back for not only the sixth one (which was confirmed ages ago and, IMHO, is sure to become a romantic comedy with wands and some magic in it), but also the seventh AND (take this) the eighth one!
What. The. Fuck?
Have they lost their bloody minds? This is Harry Potter we’re talking about, people! It’s supposed to have a grand finale and all. Why on earth did they decide to hire a… a… newbie… to direct the last movies? I mean, with the amazingly talented directors out there who were more than willing to direct Deathly Hallows (Guillermo del Toro, for example)…
I just can’t get over it. All I know is that they’re making a huge mistake. And if Yates was a tad considerate, he would step aside and let someone more experienced and talented do the job. Moreover, I think it’s about time the person in charge starts caring more about the story and less about marketing and what not (yeah, right, like that would ever happen).
After all these years… After all the money we, the fans, have spent in the Potter franchise… After all the happiness Harry and co. have given us… *sigh* He deserves better. We deserve better.
Moving on…
Other than the tragic choice that has been made about the director, the good news is that, apparently, they’ll try (at least try) to respect the seventh book, to be faithful to its plot. Yes, I did say a few lines ago that there’ll be 8 movies, instead of 7. Kudos to WB for deciding to go with two movies for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows—there was just way too much material in that book to make it into just one movie, considering their limit appears to be 161 mins. (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the longest movie so far).
The titles are anything but complicated: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II. And we can expect them by November 2010 and May 2011, respectively.
That’s what kept me from flying over to the UK, sneak into Leavesden Studios and killing everyone (but Dan), starting with Yates. In all honesty, however, who else, besides me, thinks that this decision about the two movies was at least partly one last attempt to milk HP as much as possible…?
I’m off…

When you get caught up in life...

Mood: bored.
Feeling like: going to the movies.

Wait… February is gone!? How on Earth did that happen? And how did I let it pass me by without posting a new entry?
Oh well, this last few weeks have been pretty eventful, but I seriously believe I’d be kidding myself if I’m thinking there’s any chance I can post all of it now. There’s just too much to talk about, but I see no point in speaking about events of said weeks. I will tell some of that stuff, eventually, I guess…
For now, here’s me, introducing y’all to my new layout! Yay! *silence* Ahem… Yes, I do know that this is a random black layout from Blogger, but I was honestly getting sick of Me and the Moon (not to mention it looked damn crappy in IE 6-… I forgot that said browser makes .png images look incredibly bad when they’re transparent) and I really, really want a new layout, but I’m working on it… It may take a while.
Anyway… I think that’s all for now. I’m changing the recommendations because I haven’t done it in a while, I’m gonna work on the layout and I’ll also be working on some stuff I’d like to post in the following months (I might as well reorganize my tags, too).
I’m off…

Greetings, January!

Mood: calm.
Feeling like: sleeping... and hitting my sister for talking me into playing Gotcha (ouch!).

Just how many times a year do you think we say the phrase, “whoa! Time sure flies by…”? Scratch that. How many times do we say that, in a month?
I’d daresay, one too many.
I’m thinking it right now, as I tell myself that’s been a week since I intended to post this entry… One week since my birthday. My twentieth birthday.
And here we go again: Twentieth? Whoa! Time sure flies by!
It looks like it was yesterday when I was celebrating my sweet fifteen (yes, people, 15… we Latin-Americans throw the big party on the 15th birthday, not the 16th). But enough with clichéd phrases… Let’s move on to another topic.
I’ve totally abandoned this blog, I know. And it sucks, doesn’t it? But this is the story—um, abbreviated story: I was going nuts with so many things that were going on in my life. Mainly, school and work; but I also was dealing with some other stuff, like the NaNoWriMo in November, or the creation of a website (work-related, not another leisure site), helping my dad as a translator in a business he had with people from the US, etc., etc.
BTW, the reason why I didn’t show up here to wish people a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, was that I took a one-week vacation in my hometown *innocent smile*
But now that I’m back, and a new year has started… well, I’m gonna try to put right a few wrongs.
First, as an example (of sorts), let me tell you five of my New Year’s Resolutions:
1. Actually try to reach all my goals/resolutions (yeah, that’s important).
2. Finish An Arnold Thing To Do (both English and Spanish version).
3. Finish Harry Potter and the Quest (both versions).
4. Work a bit harder on Lyrics of Arnold and upload the missing sections.
5. Same goes for Proyecto Priori Incantatem (my HP site).
So… how does it sound? I’ve posted those five resolutions for now, but I plan on keeping them on a list somewhere in this blog, so that I can be reminded of what I promised myself for this year.
I gotta go now, but I’ll come back soon (or so I hope) to rant and brag and basically just talk about some other stuff that’s been going on.
Oh, by the way… it’s never too late, I guess: Happy New Year to y’all!
I’m off!

Pumas didn't win... so what?

Mood: a little sad, but proud.
Feeling like: having something good to say.

While excitement explodes loudly on a good part of the Andrés Quintana Roo stadium, I find myself surrounded by faces that show a variety of negative feelings: sadness, disappointment, anger, rage, hatred... I can't blame this people, though, because I, myself, am feeling like my stomach is tied up in knots-- but I'm not sure if it is due to the fact that it's practically empty or due to the way the game ended. Or both.

I hate to lose. I hate it with a passion. But I don't think I'm a bad loser because, as much as I despise to lose, I can accept when I did. This is no exception.

Oh, honestly... there's no point in translating this. To make a long story short, this is about two soccer teams in Mexico. One of them is the team of the most important university of my country (Los Pumas de la UNAM) and the other is a team that recently moved from Mexico City to Cancun (Los Potros de Hierro del Atlante). There was a final and both played awesome, but one of them had to win and, unfortunately, it wasn't my team... my beloved Pumas.

But I'm still proud of them, because they did so well. And proud of myself because, while most of the people chanting for Atlante had been "fans" of the team for a mere 6 months, I've been a fan of Pumas since I was born (ok, since I've had use of reason).

And to end this post, here's something we yell to support Pumas:

Goooya! Goooya! Cachun, cachun, ra, ra! Cachun, cachun, ra, ra! Gooooooya! UNIVERSIDAD!

I'm off...

Bye, November...

Mood: disappointed.
Feeling like: going back in time to the first days of november and work harder on my novel.

So we're starting November, and the top news is... I didn't make it to the 50,000 words for NaNoWriMo. I don't feel like I lost, though; I really did have a lot to do and if you ask any of my classmates, they'll agree with me: it was a difficult month.

The good thing is that now I know exactly what it is like, so next year, I'll do better in NaNoWriMo. And another thing that I won is the idea of a novel that, despite not winning this year's NaNo, will be finished...

Anyway... I still got a couple more things to talk about that happened during this mildly marathonic month, but it'll be next time. Now I gotta go.

I'm off...